China warns the US of ‘conflict and confrontation’
Foreign Minister Qin Gang launches a ‘Wolf Warrior’ tirade as he goads Washington
China continues to fan the winds of war after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned the United States of “conflict and confrontation.”
In a media conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, he blamed Washington for rising tension with Beijing.
At times you could hear the howls echo around the room as Qin stuck to the “Wolf Warrior” script that dominates President Xi Jinping’s foreign policy.
“If the United States does not hit the brake, and continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailment, which will become conflict and confrontation, and who will bear the catastrophic consequences,” he asked a select Press briefing on Tuesday.
“The United States’ perception and views of China are seriously distorted. It regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge. This is like the first button in the shirt being put wrong [sic],” Qin added as reported by the state-run China Daily.
Flashpoints:
- Relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest ebb for decades after “balloongate.”
- Threats to invade democratic Taiwan and the destruction of the “One Country, Two Systems” model in Hong Kong have also set off alarm bells in the West Wing.
- The decision by the ruling Communist Party of China to militarize the South China Sea has further deepened distrust.
- Beijing’s questionable trade practices have even spilled over into open hostility, triggering a tech war.
We won’t allow repeated provocations against us.
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng
Delve deeper: Starving China of state-of-the-art advanced semiconductors has become the latest weapon to combat rising nationalism and militarism inside Xi’s CCP.
Alternative view: “If the United States has the ambition to make itself great again, it should also have a broad mind for the development of other countries. Containment and suppression will not make America great. It will not stop the rejuvenation of China,” Qin said.
Big picture: Or, its support for Russia. Since Moscow’s illegal invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, Comrade Xi has cemented his “no limits” partnership with “best friend” and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Between the lines: Still, China must be concerned about Russia’s military bungling and the stiff resistance shown by Ukraine’s armed forces. Taking the island of Taiwan would be twice as difficult for the People’s Liberation Army of China, the PLA Navy, and the PLA Air Force.
Dire Straits: Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng issued a rare warning as tension escalated across the Taiwan Strait. “If the Chinese communists move again, the armed forces’ job is to fight. We won’t allow repeated provocations against us,” Chiu said in Taipei.
China Factor comment: Economic clouds are gathering over the National People’s Congress amid regional debt risks, sluggish consumer demand and a property crisis. “Wolf Warrior” howls of indignation are a convenient interlude but will do little to solve the problems of mismanagement by the CCP elite.