China doesn’t want to supplant the US, but it will keep growing, Beijing says
- Nation’s development and diplomatic model designed to offer a ‘new option’ for countries in a world undermined by unilateralism and protectionism, report says
- America cannot ‘force China’s hand’ or halt its development, it says
China has “no intention” of challenging or replacing the United States on the world stage, but the superpower should not try to block its continued development, Beijing said in a white paper on Friday.
Beijing has been using the upcoming milestone as an opportunity to promote nationalistic sentiment at a time of rising tensions with Washington over trade, geopolitics, technology and culture.
“The US is unable to force China’s hand and even less likely to halt China’s development. The US cannot maintain its strength by attempting to contain and suppress other countries, or by transferring its own domestic stresses outward.”
On its international relations over the past seven decades, the report said China wanted to maintain good ties with its neighbours, and would uphold multilateralism and protect global trade.
It was wrong to see China as pursuing hegemony, it said, as the country’s development and diplomatic model was intended only to offer “a new option” for countries in a world undermined by unilateralism, protectionism and power politics that threatened world peace and stability.
“Some countries have ascribed domestic governance problems to economic globalisation or other countries, and resorted to unilateral, protectionist and hegemonic actions,” it said, without naming any.
“This approach has damaged the global value, supply and consumption chains, and caused turbulence and conflict in the current international trade order, driving the world economy towards a ‘recession trap’.”
It said also that the US should be held accountable for bringing uncertainty to regional security in the Asia-Pacific.
The negotiations come amid growing concerns that the world’s two largest economies might be on the verge of decoupling, but the white paper released on Friday warned against it.
“We should not be intimidated by the problems encountered by economic globalisation,” it said.
“Withdrawing from international organisations and treaties, decoupling foreign trade relations, and building border walls lead us nowhere. Our problems can only be solved through a process of reform and self-improvement.”
