"BRICS countries should practise true multilateralism, oppose division:" Xi Jinping in S Africa

Johannesburg [South Africa ], August 23 (ANI): In his address at the open plenary session of the 15th BRICS Summit in the South African city of Johannesburg on Wednesday, China's President Xi Jinping said that the BRICS countries "should practise true multilateralism."
He said that the countries of the bloc should stick to solidarity and oppose division.
"International rules must be written and upheld jointly by all countries based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter rather than dictated by those with strongest muscles or the loudest of voice...BRICS countries should practice true multilateralism, stick to solidarity and oppose division..."
On one hand, China's Xi talks about the increasing need for solidarity and opposing division in the bloc, China consistently engages in doublespeak as the country's coercive and aggressive actions against Taiwan are on the rise.
Taiwan has been claimed by the People's Republic of China as its territory since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's Communist forces.
China has time and again called on US officials not to engage with Taiwanese leaders or allow them into the US under any circumstances, citing "collusion" between Taipei and Washington, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Beijing has not ruled out the use of force to seize control of the democratic, self-governing island, and has increased military manoeuvres in the area around the island in recent years.
Moreover, the situation of Uyghur minorities in China has not been very good. Under the guise of a poverty alleviation campaign, Beijing has been forcing tens of thousands of rural Uyghurs out of their villages and into factories.
The Communist Party of China (CCP) criticised and restricted the use of the Uyghur language, prohibited Islamic practices; razed mosques, shrines, and cemeteries; rewrote history to deny the longevity of Uyghur culture and its distinctiveness from Chinese culture; and excised Indigenous literature from textbooks, US-based magazine Foreign Affairs reported.
Meanwhile, Xi Jinping also asserted that the 'Cold War Style' is still affecting the world and the geo-political situation is getting tense. 
In his address to the open plenary session of the 15th BRICS Summit in the South African city of Johannesburg, Xi said that BRICS countries should keep to the direction of peaceful development and consolidate the strategic partnership of the bloc.
"We should expand political and security cooperation to uphold peace and tranquillity. The Cold War mentality is still haunting our world and the geo-political situation is getting tense. BRICS countries should keep to the direction of peaceful development and consolidate the BRICS strategic partnership. We need to make good use of the BRICS Foreign ministers' meeting, a meeting of high representatives on national security and other mechanism; support each other on our core interests and enhance coordination on major international and regional issues. We need to tender good offices on hotspot issues pushing for a political settlement and lowering the temperature...," Xi Jinping said.
Apparently, Xi Jinping is on a state visit to South Africa which is also coinciding with the 15th BRICS Summit. The opening day of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg was witness to the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue.
In spite of being present in South Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the key meeting of the BRICS Business Forum which was held in Johannesburg and was attended by the leaders of the grouping.
This year's BRICS is under the presidency of South Africa.BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. This is the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The theme of this year's summit is: "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism." 
Notably, Russia will take over the chairmanship of BRICS next year. In his address at the plenary session today, Putin announced that Russia as chairman of BRICS next year plans to hold a summit in Kazan in October 2024.
"In our chairmanship, we will have the following mottos- strengthening multilateralism for global development and security; we plan to have some 200 political, economic and public events; BRICS summit is scheduled for October 2024 in the city of Kazan..." (ANI)