RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent China’s President Xi Jinping a letter apologizing for the behavior of Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro and attacking the Brazilian government for its “servile” stance in defense of US President Donald Trump’s interests.
The document was delivered to the Chinese Embassy in Brasília on Friday, March 20th. On Sunday, March 22nd, it reached the hands of President Xi Jinping.
Last week, Eduardo Bolsonaro triggered a diplomatic crisis by blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic. The Beijing ambassador to Brazil, Yang Wanming, reacted and accused the deputy of serving as a spokesperson for the interests of the American government, which has been adopting exactly the same strategy towards the Chinese.
For Wanming, Eduardo Bolsonaro returned from Miami, where he met with Donald Trump, with a “mental virus”. “We advise you not to rush to become the US spokesperson in Brazil, otherwise you could stumble,” he said.
The Brazilian government’s reaction was quick to come, with Chancellor Ernesto Araújo demanding that the ambassador recant, which never happened.
According to Lula, Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro has proved to be a “cheap sycophant” of the White House and has embraced a “servile” foreign policy.
“In the name of the friendship between the peoples of Brazil and China, nurtured by the two countries’ governments over the past five decades, I have come to repudiate the unacceptable attack made on this great nation by a deputy who happens to be the son of the current President of the Republic of Brazil,” Lula wrote.
“Such an offensive and frivolous behavior runs counter to the Brazilian people’s feelings of respect and admiration for China,” he declared. “I believe I convey the feeling of a Nation, which I had the responsibility of presiding for two terms, by apologizing to the people and the government of China for the lamentable behavior of this deputy,” he said.
Emphasizing the actions of Congress and other segments of society, Lula criticized the silence of the Executive. “I regret, however, that the current Brazilian government has not yet taken such a gesture through diplomatic channels and through the President of the Republic himself, Jair Bolsonaro, who should have been the first to adopt this stance,” he wrote.
“His silence shames Brazil and proves the narrowness of a worldview that despises truth, science, the coexistence between peoples and democracy itself,” he said.
Lula further placed the crisis in the context of the trade war. “I particularly regret that this attack occurred in the context of a trade conflict between China and the United States, a country to which Brazilian foreign policy has been servilely submitted by this government,” he said. “Bolsonaro downgrades Brazil’s relations with friendly countries and downgrades himself as a cheap sycophant of President Donald Trump,” he said.
“This government will pass, without having been up to the standards of Brazil, but nothing can erase the bonds of friendship and cooperation that we have been building since 1974, when then President Ernesto Geisel reestablished relations between Brazil and the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
Lula also recalled how “virtually all Brazilian presidents have since then strengthened our relationship in the most diverse fields”. In the letter, he mentions José Sarney, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Itamar Franco. He also recalled that in 2009, China became Brazil’s largest trading partner. “Under my administration, Brazil recognized China as a market economy and we built the BRICs together, opening a new chapter in the world order,” he said.
The ex-president also used the letter to congratulate China on its efforts against the pandemic. “Recently, I expressed my solidarity with the people and government of China in tackling the coronavirus. I now learn that the admirable efforts in this fight have resulted in the interruption, for the second day in a row, of the transmission of the virus in your country. Congratulations on this victory and keep fighting,” he said.
“This is the true image of China that we, Brazilians, have learned to admire, in a coexistence of mutual respect. A country with which we wish to maintain and deepen the best relations of friendship and cooperation, including in the fight against the severe pandemic that also affects us,” he added.