China’s foreign minister says China-US relations have “seriously deviated” while warning of potential conflict.
“Repression and containment will not make America great. It will not halt the rejuvenation of China,” said Qin Gang.
Mr. Qin, China’s former ambassador to the US, conducted his first press conference as foreign minister on Tuesday.
Despite recent efforts to repair relations, the spy balloon saga has increased tensions between the superpowers.
“It [the US] perceives China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge. This is comparable to improperly buttoning the first shirt button “Mr. Qin said this in Beijing on the margins of the annual meeting of the Chinese parliament.
As differences between the countries grew, the foreign minister was asked if a healthy China-U.S. relationship was still feasible.
Mr. Qin added that while the United States called for the establishment of “guardrails,” what it wants is for China not to respond to provocation with words or actions.
He was referring to US President Joseph Biden’s remarks from last month, in which he stated that the United States would “compete fully with China, but is not seeking conflict.”
Mr. Qin said: “If the United States does not apply the brakes and continues to speed down the incorrect road, no amount of guardrails will prevent its derailment and overturning, and it will inevitably descend into conflict and confrontation. Who will suffer its catastrophic effects?”
He also stated that the diplomatic crisis created by the incident with the balloon could have been avoided if the United States had not acted with “the presumption of guilt.”
Washington has previously characterized the suspected spy balloon as a “clear violation of US sovereignty.” Beijing acknowledged ownership of the object but claimed it was a civilian airship blasted off-course.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated during the administration of former US President Donald Trump, who 2018 launched a trade war against China. Taiwan, China’s militarization of the South China Sea, and the origins of Covid are just a few of the issues that continue to divide the two superpowers.
Mr. Qin’s remarks follow President Xi Jinping’s unusually forthright rebuke of the United States on Monday.
Mr. Xi stated that “Western nations, headed by the United States, have implemented comprehensive containment, encirclement, and suppression” against China, bringing “severe challenges” to the country.
He stated on Tuesday that an “invisible hand” was driving the Ukraine crisis, but he did not identify any specific country or individual. He reaffirmed that China had not supplied weapons to either party of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and called for the resumption of peace talks.
Nonetheless, he questioned, “Why should the United States demand that China refrain from supplying arms to Russia when China sells arms to Taiwan?”
The Ukraine crisis has reached a “critical juncture”, he said.
“Either a ceasefire will end the conflict, restore peace, and launch a political settlement, or it will stoke the flames, exacerbate the crisis, and drag it into the abyss of out-of-control violence.”
Mr. Qin, 56, became China’s youngest foreign minister in December 2022. He succeeded Wang Yi, who had joined the Communist Party’s politburo in October.
Mr. Qin, a trusted assistant of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is well-known for being a diplomat who speaks bluntly.
