Editorial | Blunt but diplomatic message from Qin puts ball in US court
- Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has made it clear that it is Washington and not Beijing disrupting the world order, while being conciliatory towards Europe in his first major meeting with international media in his new role
The messenger may have changed, but not the message of China’s foreign policy. It is sharp, clear and firm as laid out yesterday by new Foreign Minister Qin Gang during his first annual briefing at the “two sessions” of China’s legislative and political advisory bodies. It still revolves around the fraught and complicated relationship with the United States, which Qin accused of irrational and hysterical behaviour and of wanting to suppress China’s rise at any cost.
Unless Washington was willing to change its attitude there would be little room for negotiation and the relationship would head in a potentially catastrophic direction, Qin said.
This is a frank assessment that shows Beijing now holds no illusions about an early reset of bilateral ties. Rather, it is showing increasing frustration with the US anti-China narrative, such as portraying Taiwan as the next Ukraine, and insinuating China is aiding Russia in the Ukraine war. As a result, it believes Washington is insincere in managing differences and preventing conflicts.
Qin described the US narrative as the source of global instability and chaos. China, on the other hand, positions itself as the champion of developing nations and believes its success in modernisation is a case study of an alternative growth model. Qin said, rightly, that China could contribute to the improvement of global governance. A big focus this year is to strengthen its ties with developing nations.
He gave no quarter on Japan, reminding Tokyo that the international order was established after World War II, in which China paid a heavy price for the Japanese invasion.