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

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

US-China relations

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 7:45pm, 2 Jun 2023

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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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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.

Assistant foreign minister Hua Chunying said on her Twitter account on Wednesday that the two terms meant the same thing: “de-risking is in fact decoupling”.

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And on Thursday, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks about de-risking, that China was “a source of opportunities, not risks”, and that the true risks faced by the world were “practice … stoking bloc confrontation and brewing a new cold war”.

The People’s Daily article published on Friday hailed the establishment in recent years of formal diplomatic ties with 10 countries which had cut ties with Taipei before switching to Beijing as the “consolidated international community’s adherence to the one-China [policy]”.

It said China had in effect prevented external forces from interfering and Beijing had realised Hong Kong’s historic transformation from chaos to order, and from order to prosperity.

The ministry “effectively carried out international public opinion struggles, and continuously defeated attacks and smears against our country [that used] Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet, the epidemic, human rights and other issues”, it said.

It also praised Beijing’s role promoting the restoration of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran after years of hostility, an effort the article said “drove the ‘tide of reconciliation’ in the Middle East”.

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In a mention of the Ukraine crisis, the article repeated Beijing’s stance and the role it saw as promoting peace talks, while hailing its relations with Russia as “more mature and stronger”.

The article called for strengthening the “struggle spirit and capability”, a term Xi has emphasised in recent years.

“Facing the external risks and challenges, the struggles should have directions and principles,” the article said, calling for “resolute struggles” with tactics and flexibility.

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