Beijing warns that there will be a conflict with the US if it tries to contain China

Xi Jinping accuses the United States and its allies of suppressing China’s development at the same time, the new foreign minister directly warns that there could be a conflict in the future. China sent this a harsh message to the west as part of the annual session of the parliament that is being held in Beijing this week. He Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Ganghe criticized the United States for its stance on Ukraine and Taiwanwhile he defended his alliance with Russia and was conciliatory with European Union.

This Tuesday, at his first press conference as foreign minister, Qin Gang lived up to his reputation as a tough diplomat or “warrior wolf” earned as ambassador to the United States. Qin stated that if Washington does not change course, “no amount of security measures can prevent a derailment and there will certainly be conflict and confrontation.”

The foreign minister assured that Taiwan is a red line that the United States should not cross. And theatrically, with the constitution in hand, he read the part where it is written Taiwan is a “sacred” part of China pointing out that therefore no country should intervene. Qin decried that the Ukraine crisis appears to be driven by an “invisible hand” that is pushing to prolong the conflict and responding to “certain geopolitical agendas”, while China advocates peace talks. He also criticized the United States for creating a new diplomatic crisis by overreacting to the spy balloon incident.

Message from Xi Jinping

Qin Gang’s words to reporters were reinforced by a message from President Xi Jinping, who accused the United States and its allies of stifling China’s progress by creating “unprecedented challenges to the country’s development.” Xi’s remarks were made at an internal meeting with industry representatives and were reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The new foreign minister, who had been in office for two months, replaced Wang Yi, who was promoted to director of the Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Office, and thus China’s head of diplomacy. Qin Gang appeared in front of about two hundred journalists yesterday at his first press conference to set the agenda for Chinese diplomacy. It’s the only press conference he holds during the year, and questions have to be submitted weeks in advance to filter properly.

In his debut, Gang defended the alliance with Russia and even described it as “a good example for international relations”. Although he assured that they are not selling weapons to Moscow, he warned that in an increasingly unstable world, the strategic alliance “will certainly get stronger and stronger.”

On the European Union, Qin was conciliatory and defended Beijing’s efforts to strengthen political and economic relations. China wants the EU to achieve “strategic autonomy” and for relations with Beijing not to depend on the interests of third parties. The minister explained that China is striving for global prosperity and that his country’s achievements can be an inspiration for the modernization of the South, because they “dispel the myth that modernization is Western.”

China is returning to the international stage after being isolated for three years due to the pandemic, where he practically held only virtual meetings. The Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that in 2023 China will hold the first summit between China and Central Asia and the third Belt & Road forum for the cooperation of countries participating in the New Silk Road project.