Foreign Minister Wang Yi has defended China’s stance on the war in Ukraine and proposed deepening relations with Russia in the coming year as he welcomed the “historic progress” in Sino-Arab relations.
In one
Video speech before a conference in the Chinese capital on Sunday, Wang also blamed the United States for the worsening of relations between the world’s two largest economies and stated that Beijing had “firmly rejected” Washington’s “false China policy.”
China has resisted Western pressure on trade, technology, human rights and its claims over large areas of the western Pacific, accusing the US of bullying.
Their refusal to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and, along with others, to impose sanctions against Russia has further affected relations and fuelled an emerging divide with much of Europe.
“With regard to the Ukraine crisis, we have consistently adhered to the basic principles of objectivity and impartiality, without favouring one side or the other or adding fuel to the fire, let alone making selfish gains from the situation,” Wang said, according to an official text of his remarks.
He added that China would “deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation” with Russia. Warships from the two countries held joint naval exercises in the East China Sea last week.
Wang said bilateral trade between the two countries is approaching the $200 billion target “faster,” adding that major investment projects are in full swing.
“Common future”
Citing President Xi Jinping’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia, where he attended the first summit between China and the Arab States and the cooperation summit between China and the Gulf countries, Wang said that China and the Arab countries had “reached a consensus on building a closer Sino-Arab community with a shared future.”
During the visit, Xi signed several strategic and economic partnership agreements and said China would continue to import large quantities of oil from Gulf countries and expand imports of liquefied natural gas.
Xi is pushing Chinese industry to become more self-sufficient, but Wang acknowledged in his speech that experience has shown “that China and the United States cannot decouple or separate their supply chains.”
He said China would seek to get relations with the US back on track as “the United States stubbornly continues to regard China as its main competitor and engages in blatant blockade, repression and provocation against China.”
Wang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone at the end of last week.
The State Department said Blinken discussed the need to manage US-China relations responsibly and raised concerns about Russia’s war against Ukraine and the associated threats to global security and economic stability.
Wang accused the US of “unilateral bullying” and said China would continue to play a constructive role in resolving the Ukraine crisis in its own way, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.