The Chinese President quoted a saying during the video call with Biden: “It is the job of whoever put the rattle around the tiger’s neck to remove it.” What it means and why it makes us understand China’s role in the war will play in Ukraine.
Turn on notifications to get updates
The conversation between the Chinese President Xi Jinping and the American Joe Biden, yesterday, lasted about two hours. A very long video call from which not much was understood at the end. China maintains this position, which some call ambiguous, others neutral, but essentially it doesn’t compromise in any way other than by saying it wants peace. And in short, it’s not like there were many doubts even before the video call between the two. Also because China, which is consolidating as an economic power, has no interest in waging war. But that was clear from the start. What is unclear, however, is what Beijing intends: whether it will support Putin and help him militarily, as some American sources warn, or whether it will try to get him to quit because of the privileged relationships they have built over the years.
The short answer can be neither. The longer one is contained in the proverb “jie líng hái xu xì líng rén”, which translates as “it is the duty of him who tied the rattle to the tiger’s neck to remove it”. The saying was uttered by the Chinese President at one point in the river video call between Xi and Biden. The interpretation is quite simple: the tiger is Russia, angry at the sound of the rattle being tied around its neck, and the West is responsible for NATO’s eastward expansion, which it has – metaphorically more or less – angered Tiger.
In short, the meaning is simple: Dear USA, now solve it yourself by removing the rattle from the tiger’s neck to calm it down. However, there are many nuances. The Chinese president, who Corriere recalls often using more or less scholarly quotes in his speeches, had already used the metaphor in 2014 to reply to a New York Times reporter protesting the restrictions Beijing was placing on the international press had imposed.
Putin in his speech to the nation today: “Special Operation to End Genocide in Donbass”
In this case, of course, the context is very different, as China could watch from afar as the United States and Western countries attempt to remove this rattle from the tiger’s neck, at the risk of being injured, perhaps even smeared. Or he could try to make the operation easier by trying to make the tiger more tame. Metaphors aside, China must decide what to do – or rather, what to ask the West to do – but it will try to stay as far away from the war in Ukraine as possible.