US ‘misjudgment’ harmful, FM says
Top diplomat says fears of rising China are ‘self-imagined’
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China does not seek hegemony and will not seek to replace US leadership in the world.
“China will not become, will not challenge, will not take the place of the United States,” Wang told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday.
“Some people in the US contend that a stronger China is bound to follow the beaten path to seek hegemony and pose a so-called threat to the leading position of the US in the world,” Wang said. “This is a serious strategic misjudgment that would bring exceptional harm to the future and the interests of the US.”
Wang said it was these “self-imagined” suspicions that amplify problems in relations between China and the US, making it more difficult for the two nations to work together to solve practical problems.
Wang stressed that China’s development path will differ from that of a traditional power. This is a path with Chinese characteristics to ensure that China will not repeat the old path in which a strong power will always seek hegemony, Wang said, adding that China will neither become another United States nor challenge or replace it.
China will stick to the path of peaceful development, and that has been written into China’s Constitution and the Constitution of the Communist Party of China, Wang said.
He said that China has made major contributions to world peace, citing as examples the country’s peaceful resolution of boundary issues with most neighbors, taking part in UN peacekeeping missions, being the largest contributor of peacekeepers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and lifting around 800 million people out of poverty, accounting for more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction.
In another development, Wang told the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly that China will continue to upheld multilateralism.
“What we see today is that international rules and multilateral mechanisms are under attack, and the international landscape is filled with uncertainties and destabilizing factors,’’ he said on Friday.
China has upheld international order and pursued multilateralism unremittingly, Wang said, adding that China believes in upholding multilateralism in the new era.
The international community must pursue win-win cooperation, act upon rules and order, uphold fairness and justice and act to deliver real results, he said.
Wang stressed that it is imperative to work together with the United Nations to uphold the international system, as well as the multilateral trading system centered on the World Trade Organization.
“Multilateralism requires a strong United Nations,” Wang said, expressing China’s support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his efforts to advance UN reforms in the critical areas of peace, security, economic development and internal management.
Wang said that as a major responsible country, China has committed itself to the path of peaceful development and will work with other countries to contribute its share to global peace and security.
Speaking of economic globalization, he said it should not be a process for some to gain and others to lose; still less should it result in widening the gap between north and south.
“It is important that we adapt ourselves to the trend of economic globalization, and see to it that such a process is open, inclusive, balanced and win-win to deliver benefits to all,” he said.
It is important that we adapt ourselves to the trend of economic globalization, and see to it that such a process is open, inclusive, balanced and win-win to deliver benefits to all.”
Wang Yi, State councilor and foreign minister