China accuses US of suppression tactics
BEIJING — China’s foreign minister accused the U.S. on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress China’s rise and criticized the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.
Wang Yi, speaking during the annual meeting of China’s legislature, said China’s relations with the U.S. have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has not fulfilled its promises.
“If the U.S. always said one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the U.S. gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word ‘China,’ where is its confidence as a major power?” he said. “If the U.S. is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.”
Wang also demanded that members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations.
The 70-year-old veteran diplomat, who has earned Xi’s trust, returned to the foreign minister’s post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job. Wang is also the ruling Communist Party’s top foreign affairs official, a more senior position that he moved to when Qin became foreign minister at the end of 2022.
Analysts speculated the Communist Party might use the meeting of the National People’s Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.
China’s U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said during a Security Council debate that China supports Palestine becoming a full member as soon as possible, as a first step toward creating a Palestinian state, according to Chinese media reports.
Wang called for a major conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution. “We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on ... members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this any more,” he said.
TAIWAN AND SOUTH CHINA SEA
Wang accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea. China said self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian neighbors.
The Philippines and the U.S. accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Wang praised China’s growing ties with Russia, noting mutual trade reached $240 billion last year.
The U.S. and EU say China is giving Russia an economic lifeline at a time when they are trying to pressure its government with sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a devastating war that has continued for more than two years.
The U.S. and EU expanded sanctions on companies and individuals from China and several other countries two weeks ago for allegedly aiding Russia’s war effort.