China’s foreign minister calls on other nations to resist taking sides with US and to prevent a new cold war
- In a phone call with his French counterpart, Wang Yi said Beijing was striving to keep relations with the US stable
- He cites the Vienna Convention while addressing dramatic consulate closures in Houston and Chengdu
China’s foreign minister called on all countries to “resist” the United States’ “blatant and unreasonable acts” and to help prevent the world’s two greatest powers descending into what he called a new cold war.
In a phone call with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday, Wang Yi said Beijing would make “firm and rational responses” amid the intensifying rivalry with the US, but also stressed that his country would strive to maintain stable relations with Washington.
It was the fourth time in less than two weeks that Wang, who is also a state councillor, has named the US in conversations with foreign officials, following calls with his Russian, Vietnamese and German counterparts. Before that, veiled attacks against Washington might have been made in talks with foreign governments, but the country at the heart of discussions would not have been named.
“Tolerating a bully will not keep you safe. It will only let the bully get bolder and act worse. All countries should act to resist any unilateral or hegemonic act and safeguard world peace and development,” Wang was quoted as saying in a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
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Wang said the current decline in China-US relations was caused by a “certain political faction in the US, driven by the need to lift campaign prospects and maintain unipolar hegemony”, the statement said.
During the phone call, Wang called for “vigilance against US Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo’s recent remarks instigating renewed ideological confrontation and leading the world to a new cold war”.
“We believe that all countries will make the right and wise decisions, instead of being held hostage by a small number of American politicians,” Wang said.
“All countries will make concerted efforts to prevent the world from being dragged into a new cold war of conflict and confrontation,” he said.
But Wang said the interests of the two countries were deeply integrated and that Beijing stood “ready to strive to maintain the stability of China-US relations through equal communication and exchanges with the US side”.
“We will never allow a few anti-China elements to overturn decades of successful exchanges and cooperation between China and the US, nor will we allow ideological prejudice to undermine the future development of China-US relations.”
The ministry also cited the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and said the US government had no right to take over the Chinese consulate in Houston after its closure.
It said certain behaviour by American embassy and consular personnel was not consistent with their diplomatic identities. For example, it said American diplomats in Hong Kong had met with those seeking Hong Kong independence. The ministry said the US had six official posts – an embassy and five consulates – in China, and one consulate in Hong Kong with up to 1,000 Americans working in the US consulate in the city.
Wang said China did not stir up trouble and always exercised restraint.
“Not long ago, the US forcefully demanded the closure of China’s consulate general in Houston, a provocation against our sovereignty and dignity, which was surely met with our legitimate and necessary response. This is consistent with customary diplomatic practice and a due right enjoyed by all sovereign nations,” he said.
