US should not ‘oppress and contain’ China, globalisation facing ‘headwinds’: top Beijing official

Asia should guard against becoming ‘testing grounds for parallel systems’, says Liu Jianchao, who is tipped to be China’s next foreign minister

During his visit to Singapore to reaffirm bilateral ties, Liu met top officials including Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong

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Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, speaking at the FutureChina Dialogue in Singapore on March 27. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:04pm, 27 Mar 2024Updated: 12:36am, 28 Mar 2024

Asia should not allow itself to become a “testing ground for parallel systems” amid US-China decoupling and the Americans should not “oppress and contain” Beijing, a senior Chinese official who is tipped to be the next foreign minister said at a forum in Singapore.

Liu Jianchao, head of the international department of the Chinese Communist Party, on Wednesday called for efforts to boost economic globalisation in his keynote speech as he implicitly accused the United States of promoting protectionist policies.

“However, for some time, the trend of economic globalisation has encountered headwinds,” said Liu, who hailed the twin engines of economic globalisation and regional integration for their “potential and resilience for growth”.

“Certain countries are engaged in decoupling, disrupting supply chains, building small yards with high fences in the name of security,” he said in a thinly veiled reference to the Americans’ trade and economic strategy targeting China. Last year, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan referred to the threat from China targeting US technologies and called for the erection of “a small yard and a high fence”.

Liu said, “Asia must be vigilant not to become testing grounds for parallel systems. If so, the long-established industrial supply chains in the region could be disrupted and Asia can find it harder to achieve prosperity.”

Although Liu did not elaborate, parallel systems refer to a global political and economic order simultaneously dominated by different powers, with the US-China rivalry cited by political analysts as a prime example.