According to Xi, the West’s actions have led China to face “unprecedently intense challenges” in its development. The president reiterated what Premier Li Keqiang had previously said, namely that China must focus on innovation so that the country can become technologically autonomous.
‘suppressed’
“Western countries led by the United States have encircled, encircled and oppressed China everywhere, posing unprecedented serious challenges to our country’s development,” Xi said.
The new foreign minister put it even more clearly. According to Qin Gang, the United States and China are heading towards an “inevitable conflict” if Washington does not change its approach. In his first media appearance as minister, Qin Gang outlined China’s foreign agenda for the coming years. Takeaway: Sino-Russian relations are a “beacon of strength and stability”, the United States and its allies are a source of tension and conflict.
Zero-sum game
According to Qin, although the Americans say they want to overtake China but are not looking for conflict, the United States has very different intentions. Qin calls it a zero-sum game where one person’s gain means the other’s loss. “If the United States does not brake hard, but continues on the wrong track, no guardrail can stop it from going off the rails, and conflict and confrontation will surely follow.”
Close friendship
Qin defended the close friendship between China and Russia. He called the Beijing-Moscow ties “an example for global foreign relations”. “If China and Russia work together, the world will have a driving force,” she said. She stressed that as the world becomes more unstable, it becomes increasingly necessary “for China and Russia to constantly build their relationship.”
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Invisible hand
Qin blamed the United States for the deteriorating relationship. He explicitly mentioned the balloon incident, as well as the tensions over Taiwan and the war in Ukraine. According to Qin, the conflict in Ukraine has been led by “an invisible hand (…) which has used the Ukrainian crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas”.
According to Qin, the Sino-Russian relationship is not against a third party and poses no threat to any country. Qin suggested that the Americans are self-righteous, defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but failing to recognize China’s claims to Taiwan. Also hypocritical – to accuse China of arming Russia and supplying Taiwan itself with weapons.
“The Taiwan issue is the bedrock of the political foundation of US-China relations and the first red line in US-China relations,” Qin said.