BEIJING – China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, said ties with the US have left a “rational path” and warned of conflict if Washington “doesn’t hit the brakes”.
Qin, who until recently was China’s ambassador to the US, said China would “pursue a solid and stable relationship with the US”.
However, he added that the Biden administration’s “installation of guardrails and not seeking conflict means that China should not respond in word or action when attacked.”
“It’s not possible,” said Qin.
Tensions between the US and China have risen over the past several years with tariffs and sanctions. The duties imposed under the Trump administration followed long-standing complaints from foreign businesses of unequal access to China’s market. More recently, the Biden administration has said the US is in competition with China and banned US businesses from working with Chinese partners on high-end semiconductors. Visits to Taiwan by high-level US politicians last year also angered Beijing.
Qin said, “If America does not hit the brakes but continues to accelerate down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can stop the derailment and there will certainly be conflicts and confrontations.”
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang is pictured speaking in Washington, DC, in December 2022, when he was China’s ambassador to the United States.
China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images
He was speaking at his first press conference after becoming the External Affairs Minister on Tuesday.
On Taiwan, he reiterated that the issue is China’s internal matter. Beijing considers the democratically self-governing island as part of its territory.
Qin said the Taiwan question is the first red line in US-China relations that should not be crossed.
In regards to the balloon incident last month, Qin reiterated China’s position that the vehicle was unmanned and subject to forces outside Beijing’s control.
“America operates with a presumption of guilt,” he said.
“The result is that the US and China’s policy has completely deviated from the rational and concrete track,” Qin said.
In February, the US indefinitely postponed his visit to Beijing because of an incident involving a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The month also marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s annexation. invasion of ukraine, Beijing has refused to call the attack an aggression, calling for talks to end the conflict.
It is not clear to what extent Beijing has tried to facilitate the talks.
Qin on Tuesday presented Beijing’s ties with Moscow as an example for ties with other countries.
He said “major countries” needed to consider whether they were following “specific political blocs” or “promoting friendship”. Qin said that China-Russia relations are not a threat to any country, nor are they subject to interference by any third country.
“The more unstable the world becomes, the more urgent it is for China and Russia to continue to advance relations,” Qin said through an official English translation.
During the reshuffle of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in October, Qin was also Nominated to the Central Committee of the party.
Qin’s comments came after Blinken last week Warns China against supporting Russian war effort,
“China can’t have it both ways when it comes to Russian aggression in Ukraine. It can’t push peace offers on the one hand, while actually fanning the flames that Russia has unleashed on the other.” started from the side.” Blinken said at a news conference in Kazakhstan.
— CNBC’s Audrey Wan contributed to this report.