China claims US putting relations on path to ‘conflict and confrontation’

China claims US putting relations on path to ‘conflict and confrontation’
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has warned Beijing and Washington are headed for “conflict and confrontation” if the United States does not change course, placing a combative tone at a second when relations between the rivals are at a historic low.

In his first news convention since taking workplace late final 12 months, Qin’s harsh language appeared to defy predictions that China may abandon its aggressive “wolf warrior” diplomacy in favour of extra average rhetoric as the 2 international locations face off over commerce and expertise, Taiwan, human rights and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Washington’s China coverage has “entirely deviated from the rational and sound track,” Qin advised journalists on the sidelines of the annual assembly of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, when leaders lay out their financial and political priorities for the approaching 12 months.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reads from the Chinese structure when answering a query about Taiwan throughout a press convention held on the sidelines of the annual assembly of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP)

“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” stated Qin, whose new place is junior to the Communist Party’s senior overseas coverage official, Wang Yi.

“Such competition is a reckless gamble, with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity.”

Qin’s feedback echoed remarks made by chief Xi Jinping in a speech Monday to legislators.

“Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, blockade and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented grave challenges to our nation’s development,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

In the face of that, China should “remain calm, maintain concentration, strive for progress while maintaining stability, take active actions, unite as one, and dare to fight”, he stated.

US officers have grown more and more fearful about China’s expansive political and financial targets and the potential of warfare over Taiwan — and lots of officers in Washington have referred to as for the US to make an even bigger effort to counter Chinese affect overseas.

In this picture offered by Chad Fish, the remnants of a giant balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, simply off the coast of South Carolina, after it was shot down by a US Air Force fighter jet on February 5, 2023. (AP)
In current weeks, considerations about Chinese spying on the US and Beijing’s affect campaigns there have drawn explicit concern, and officers from the 2 international locations have continuously traded accusations.
US Navy consultants recuperate the high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Photo: US Navy by way of AP) (AP)

And the 2 international locations have traded indignant phrases over Taiwan as China has stepped up its diplomatic isolation and navy harassment of the self-governing island democracy that it claims as its personal territory.

Qin — who briefly served as ambassador to Washington and gained a popularity for his reducing condemnations of China’s critics when he was Foreign Ministry spokesman — touched on all these matters on Tuesday.

He criticised Washington for capturing down the balloon, repeating claims that its look in US skies was an accident.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang gestures as he prepares to go away a press convention held on the sidelines of the annual assembly of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP)

“In this case the United States’ perception and views of China are seriously distorted. It regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge,” Qin stated.

“This is like the first button in a shirt being put wrong and the result is that the US-China policy has entirely deviated from the rational and sound track.”

On Taiwan, Qin referred to as the difficulty the primary pink line that should not be crossed. China and Taiwan break up amid civil warfare in 1949. While the US doesn’t advocate for both unification or Taiwan’s formal independence, Washington is obligated by federal regulation to see that the island has the means to defend itself if attacked.

Chinese tanks move out of the water.
On Taiwan, Qin referred to as the difficulty the primary pink line that should not be crossed. (CFOTO / Future Publishing / Getty Images)

“The US has unshakable responsibility for causing the Taiwan question,” he stated, accusing the US of “disrespecting China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” by providing the island political backing and furnishing it with defensive weapons in response to Beijing’s menace to make use of power to convey it beneath Chinese management.

“Why does the US ask China not to provide weapons to Russia, while it keeps selling arms to Taiwan?” Qin requested.

China spy balloon comparability to Harbour Bridge Opera House (Nine: Orla Maher)

In Taipei, Taiwan’s Defence Minister stated the armed forces weren’t searching for outright battle with China’s navy, however nor would they again away within the occasion of Chinese plane or ships coming into Taiwanese coastal seas or airspace.

“It is the nation’s armed forces’ duty to mount an appropriate response,” Chiu Kuo-cheng advised legislators.

Beijing has additionally accused the West of “fanning the flames” by offering Ukraine with weaponry to fend off the Russian invasion.

China says it has a impartial stance within the warfare, however has additionally stated it has a “no-limits friendship” with Russia and has refused to criticise Moscow’s invasion — and even consult with it as an invasion.

Chinese fighter jet confronts US Navy airplane over disputed sea

“Efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined. There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve a certain geopolitical agenda,” Qin stated.

Qin’s news convention got here two days after the opening of the yearly assembly of the National People’s Congress, a largely ceremonial physique assembled to approve authorities stories and, this 12 months, a brand new slate of top-level appointments. That is predicted to incorporate a norm-breaking third five-year time period as president for Xi, who has eradicated all time period limits to permit him to rule indefinitely.

Source: www.9news.com.au