While China’s president, Xi Jinping, stirs up hatred for America by convincing the people of China that America is trying to “suppress” their country, Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang, has issued a warning to the United States to “hit the brake” or face consequences. According to AP News, Qin Gang’s words have led to an abandonment of any hope that tensions in China would cease.
AP News reports that in his first news conference since beginning his post last year, minister Qin Gang said, “if the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” adding that, “such competition is a reckless gamble, with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity.”
Gang’s comment came just one day after President Xi accused America of harming China through “containment, encirclement, and suppression,” which he says, “has brought unprecedented grave challenges to our nation’s development.” President Xi seemingly prepared the people of China for conflict while telling them to “take active actions, unite as one and dare to fight.”
Spokesman for the State Department, Ned Price, denied that the United States was trying to “suppress” China. Price said that Washington “wants to ‘coexist responsibly’ in a global trade and political system,” noting that there is nothing suppressing China or holding them back.
Relations between the United States and China are tense as some U.S. officials claim that the coronavirus pandemic began in 2019 with a leak from the Wuhan lab in China. Additionally, with Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, being claimed by Beijing, the likelihood of war over the island is appearing to grow. Tension over Taiwan has led to “angry words” over the issue as China has been trying to intimidate the island by firing missiles into the sea and flying fighter planes near Taiwan. There is also the Chinese spy balloon that China claims “accidentally” flew over the United States, and which was eventually shot down.
In his speech, Qin used nearly every opportunity to disparage the United States, falsely making them look like the aggressor who is disrupting world peace. Referencing Ukraine in addition to all other issues, Qin claimed that the United States has “undermined” efforts for peace talks. With tensions over several issues growing rather than ceasing, and Chinese officials attacking the United States more and more, it appears that China may be preparing more for conflict than for peace.