Chinese Foreign Minister gets a bit caustic about US policies on China and Ukraine
Chinese Foreign Minister gets a bit caustic about US policies on China and Ukraine
The new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang struck a fairly conciliatory tone in an essay he published in December1 just before he formally assumed his current role.
But he wasn’t playing quite so nicely in a press conference this week:
China's foreign minister says China-US relations have "seriously deviated" while warning of potential conflict.
"Containment and suppression will not make America great. It will not stop the rejuvenation of China," said Qin Gang.
Mr Qin, China's former ambassador to the US, held his first press conference as foreign minister on Tuesday. …
"It [the US] regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge. This is like the first button in the shirt being put wrong," said Mr Qin, speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's parliament in Beijing.
The foreign minister was responding to a question on whether a healthy China-US relationship was still possible as differences between the countries grew.2
This follows on a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping in which he declared, “Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to our country's development."3
Qin also seemed to be signaling a more hardnosed publicly position on Ukraine:
Qin used the nearly two-hour briefing to denounce everything from the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and weapons sales to Taiwan to what he said was the U.S. role in prolonging Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The press briefing on the sideline of the annual meeting of China’s 3,000-member parliament, the National People’s Congress, marked Qin’s highest profile public event since he completed his tenure as Chinese ambassador to the U.S. in December.4 [my emphasis]
DW News reports5:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping also called out the West, and particularly the United States in a rare naming of individual countries during a speech to the country's political advisory board meeting.
"Western countries led by the United States have carried out all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to China's development," Xi was quoted by state media as saying. [my emphasis]
Qin also made what could be taken as a bit of a Marxist joke about an “invisible hand” in the West’s Ukraine policy:
The Ukraine crisis seems to be driven by an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict, China's foreign minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday.
The "invisible hand" is "using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas", Qin said on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, calling for dialogue to begin as soon as possible.
"Conflict, sanctions, and pressure will not solve the problem...The process of peace talks should begin as soon as possible, and the legitimate security concerns of all parties should be respected," Qin said.6
Qin Gang (2022): How China Sees the World. The National Interest 12/26/2022. <https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-china-sees-world-206058> (Accessed 12/31/022).
Ng, Kelly (2023): Suppressing China won't make America great - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. BBC News 036/07/2023. <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64871808> (Accessed: 2023-07-03).
China's Xi condemns US-led 'suppression'. Le Monde/AFP 03/07/2023. <https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/03/07/china-s-xi-condemns-us-led-suppression-of-china_6018440_4.html> (Accessed: 2023-07-03).
Kine, Phelim (2023): China’s new foreign minister slams U.S. 'malicious confrontation'. Politico 03/07/2023. <https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/07/china-foreign-minister-malicious-confrontation-00085800> (Accessed: 2023-07-03).
China warns US of potential for 'conflict and confrontation'. DW News YouTube channel 03/07/2023. (Accessed: 2023-07-03).
China says Ukraine crisis driven by 'invisible hand'. Reuter 030/07/2023. <https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-ukraine-crisis-driven-by-invisible-hand-2023-03-07/> (Accessed: 2023-07-03).