‘External risks’: the focus of the next stage in China’s diplomacy, foreign ministry says

Name: Russian prime minister travels to China to ‘elevate cooperation’
Uploaded: 2023-06-02T11:45:52.000Z
Duration: 2 min 46 s
Description: Russian prime minister travels to China to ‘elevate cooperation’

As part of campaign studying Xi Jinping thought and amid rising tension with the US, foreign ministry says Beijing will allocate resources to ‘key challenges’

The article published in state media said Beijing’s role restoring Saudi-Iran ties drove the ‘tide of reconciliation’ in the Middle East

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Works defending national interests have achieved “breakthroughs” under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s thoughts on diplomacy, a foreign ministry article said on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 7:45pm, 2 Jun 2023Updated: 8:04pm, 2 Jun 2023

China should focus on improving its capacity to address “external risks” in its next stage of diplomacy, and will allocate resources to “key challenges”, according to an article by China’s foreign ministry on Friday.

The article was written by the ministry’s Communist Party branch based on its study of Xi Jinping Thought from two recent publications of the president’s remarks. It is part of a recent campaign by the party leadership directing members to study Xi’s political ideology.

It publication in the party’s flagship newspaper, People’s Daily, comes as relations between China and the United States are strained on almost every front, from the military, Taiwan and the South China Sea to technology and human rights issues.

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Russian prime minister travels to China to ‘elevate cooperation’

Work defending national interests had achieved “breakthroughs” under the guidance of Xi’s thoughts on diplomacy, the article said.

They included “strong hits against external interference and extreme pressure”, a reference to Beijing’s handling of ties with US-led Western countries.

The ministry would put its “focus and resources on dealing with key challenges and improve the ability to prevent and defuse external risks”, the article stated.

It did not elaborate on what the “key challenges” were. In opening remarks during the annual national meeting of China’s top legislature in March, Xi made a rare reference to the US: “Western countries, led by the United States, have implemented all-round containment and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to the country’s development.”

Recently, European Union and US officials have called for “de-risking” – rather than “decoupling” – with China, but the ambiguous word is still unpalatable for Beijing.