China has warned the US once morest further straining strained relations with provocations. China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang told reporters on Tuesday at the current annual session of the People’s Congress that if the United States “doesn’t step on the brakes, but continues to follow the wrong path,” even guardrails would no longer be able to stop a derailment. Then “conflicts and confrontations threatened,” he said, and warned of “catastrophic consequences.”
With unusually direct words, China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping had previously accused the United States and the West of wanting to slow down his country’s rise in the world. On the fringes of the annual meeting in Beijing, the president said, according to the state media on Tuesday, that the environment for China’s development has “changed dramatically” and that the imponderables have increased sharply. “Western countries in particular, led by the United States, are pursuing all-out containment, encirclement and suppression of China, posing unprecedented severe challenges for China’s development.”
According to Qin Gang, the US sees China as its main adversary and as the most serious geopolitical challenge. The consequence of this assumption is that the Americans’ China policy has completely strayed from the “rational path”. Although Washington speaks of competition, in reality it wants to suppress China in all areas. In view of the increasing turbulence in the world, China must expand its relations with Russia.
The close cooperation between President Xi and Russian leader Vladimir Putin is the anchor for relations between the two countries, says Qin. He did not comment on speculation that Xi might travel to Russia following the Chinese parliamentary session, which lasted regarding a week. He called for peace talks in Ukraine. At the same time, however, he demanded that the “legitimate security interests of all parties must be respected” – a formulation with which China usually makes clear its backing for the Russian position. The conflict is essentially “an outbreak of problems” in the security architecture in Europe, Qin Gang told the press on the occasion of the current annual meeting of the People’s Congress.
“China did not create the crisis. It is not a party in the crisis and has not supplied weapons to either side,” Qin Gang said. “Why on earth should China be blamed or even sanctioned or threatened? That is completely unacceptable,” said Qin Gang, also responding to warnings from the United States and Europe to China to supply weapons to Russia.
Asked whether it is possible for China and Russia to abandon the dollar and euro for bilateral trade, Qin says countries should use any currency that is efficient, safe and credible. “Currencies should not be used as a trump card for unilateral sanctions, much less as a cover for harassment or coercion,” he said.
Against the background of the dispute over Taiwan, Qin Gang called on the US to stop interfering “in China’s internal affairs”. He condemned US arms sales to the democratic island republic. “We will continue to work towards peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and effort,” the minister said. However, China reserves the right to “take all necessary measures,” he repeated the well-known Chinese position.
China views Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and ultimately threatens conquest if “reunification” cannot be achieved otherwise. However, Taiwan was never part of the communist People’s Republic founded in 1949 and has long considered itself independent.
