Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that the United States (US) should abandon its “wishful thinking about changing China” and stop pushing the two nations “to the brink of a new Cold War”.
Speaking at a news conference during the annual National People’s Congress, Wang took several jabs at Washington, telling reporters that some “political forces in the US” were spreading a “political virus” in the country, aimed at tarnishing relations with Beijing through a smear campaign.
Relations between the two nations continue to sour amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They have clashed on a variety of issues from trade to human rights, and China’s latest move to tighten its grip on Hong Kong has set up another showdown between US’ Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping. The White House has threatened sanctions on Hong Kong and China if the latter impedes on the former’s autonomy. Wang responded to the international condemnation, stating that Hong Kong affairs were an internal matter for China, and that “no external interference will be tolerated”.
Tensions between the two countries have come to a head in recent months, with the Trump administration trying to place the blame for the spread of the coronavirus entirely on China’s Communist Party. And White House officials have not shied away from ramping up support for this message. Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro told ABC News last week that China sent “hundreds of thousands” of infected people on planes to “seed” the virus around the world. On Sunday, national security advisor Robert O’Brien also blamed China for not being transparent about the spread of the disease in the crucial early days. Chinese officials have also resorted to these theories, with foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian previously suggesting that American soldiers planted the virus in Wuhan during military exercises held there in October.
In his statement, however, Wang only focused on American faults. He said that some politicians in the United States were trying to “stigmatize China” through “countless lies and conspiracy theories”. He also made clear China’s openness to working with the international community to probe into the pathogen’s source. However, he insisted that the process should be fair, “free of political interference, respect the sovereignty of all countries, and oppose any presumption of guilt”.
Image Source: VOA
Chinese Foreign Minister Warns US Against Pushing the Two “To the Brink of a New Cold War”
May 25, 2020
