China-US ties: world powers urged to keep ‘finger-pointing and scapegoating’ in check to preserve global stability
- Chinese scholar Da Wei tells Beijing forum recent deterioration in major power relations are ‘very difficult times’
- US view of UN Gaza resolution signals ‘powers are determining the outcome or making the decisions rather than the multilateral institutions’: analyst
Major powers can prevent fraught ties from spiralling if they stop finger-pointing and “scapegoating” one another, a forum in Beijing has heard as diplomatic analysts warned of a “breakdown” of multilateral institutions such as the United Nations.
Da Wei, who heads Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy (CISS), said there had been a deterioration in major power relations – including US-China ties – in what he described as “very difficult times”.
“If we continue to be very angry with each other, if we continue finger-pointing at the other side, if we continue to blame the other side … we will not have stable major power relations,” he said, without naming any country.
02:35
‘We are just in the beginning’: top climate scientist warns the worst has yet to come
“This is something, I think, inevitable,” he said. “If we realise this, we can stop criticising each other, particularly stop blaming the other side for our own country’s domestic problems [and] scapegoating the other side.”
Da was speaking at a panel discussion on major power relations during a conference on Wednesday organised by the CISS.
In his opening comments, Da said political leaders and a political will were key to stabilising relations between world powers.
“We have already seen that,” he said, referring to the meeting between United States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November.