China foreign minister warns of potential for conflict with US and hails Russia ties

The US and China are heading towards inevitable conflict if Washington does not change its approach, China’s new foreign minister has said in a fiery press conference in which he defended his country’s strengthening relationship with Russia.

In his first media appearance as foreign minister, held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the “two sessions” political gathering, Qin Gang outlined China’s foreign policy agenda for the coming years, presenting China and its relationship with Russia as a beacon of strength and stability, and the US and its allies as a source of tension and conflict.

Qin said the US side claimed that it wanted to outcompete China but didn’t seek conflict “but in reality, the US side’s so-called competition is all-out containment and suppression, a zero-sum game where you die and I live.

“If the US does not hit the brakes but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrail can prevent derailing, and there will surely be conflict and confrontation.”

Qin defended the close friendship between China and Russia, a relationship closely watched by the west in light of the war in Ukraine. He said the ties between Beijing and Moscow “set an example for global foreign relations”.

“With China and Russia working together, the world will have a driving force,” he said. “The more unstable the world becomes the more imperative it is for China and Russia to steadily advance their relations.”

He said there was “close contact” between the leadership of the two countries, with “head of state” relations forming the anchor of the relationship. “The strategic partnership … will surely grow from strength to strength.”

Qin’s comments aligned with a speech by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to political delegates on Monday, decrying what he called US-led “suppression” of China.

“Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to our country’s development,” he said.

China-US relations have deteriorated sharply in recent years, and efforts to mend it were derailed earlier this year when the US shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon, flying in US airspace. China claims that it was an accident caused by “force majeure” and that the US overreacted.

Qin blamed the US for the worsening relations, specifically citing the balloon incident, as well as tensions over Taiwan and the Ukraine war. He said the conflict in Ukraine seems to have been driven by “an invisible hand … using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas”, pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict.

China has presented itself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but in practice has been supportive of Russia. It recently published a 12-point plan for peace which analysts said largely repeated Beijing’s talking points over the past year.

Qin said the Moscow-Beijing relationship was not targeted at any third party, was not a threat to any country, and would not be subject to “interference or discord sewn by any third party”.

Qin suggested the US was acting with hypocrisy when it defended the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but not China’s claim over Taiwan, as well as when it accused China of considering arming Russia when it was arming Taiwan.

He also blamed the US for tensions over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as a province and has sworn to annex by force if necessary.

“The Taiwan question is the bedrock of the political foundations of US-China relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in US-China relations,” he said.

Qin said he had expected a question on Taiwan and so had brought with him a copy of the constitution of the People’s Republic of China, before reading out the section that claimed Taiwan as a “sacred” part of China.

Qin’s press conference set out China’s foreign policy intentions for the new five-year political term, which began with the reappointment of Xi as Chinese Communist party leader in October last year, and with new government appointments to be announced this week. Qin emphasised China as a force for global stability and prosperity, inspiring modernisation around the world, particularly in the global south. He said China’s achievements “bust the myth that modernisation is westernisation”.

He said China could offer solutions to global challenges, but others “were hogging the microphone”.