As the United States has been so blatant and unreasonable, China will make firm and rational responses to U.S. acts, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday.
Wang shared his view on China-U.S. relationship during a phone conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Wang said that the current China-U.S. relationship has become a source of concern for many in the international community, adding that the fundamental reason is that a certain political faction in the United States, driven by the need to lift campaign prospects and maintain unipolar hegemony, are going all out to negate the history of China-U.S. relations, suppress China on every front, provoke China on its core interests, attack the social system chosen by the Chinese people, and vilify the ruling party with inseparable links to the Chinese people.
The U.S. acts have forsaken the most basic sense of propriety in interactions between countries and breached the very bottom line of international norms, said Wang, adding that such behavior is stark power politics that can be captured by one word: hegemony.
Wang called for vigilance to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent remarks instigating renewed ideological confrontation and leading the world to a new Cold War, saying that it is as if people can already see the ghost of McCarthyism coming back from the ashes.
Should such conspiracy theories be allowed to have their way, not only will China-U.S. relations fall into the abyss of confrontation, but the whole world will face a crisis of division and the entire mankind's future will be in peril, Wang said.
Noting that the United States, promoting "America First" over the past years, has been going further down the path of unilateralism, repeatedly breaking its international commitments and obligations, and severely undermining the international law and order, Wang said that the number of international treaties that the current U.S. administration pulled out from is far larger than that of any of its predecessor.
What's worse, at the critical time when solidarity is most needed by the international community to fight COVID-19, Washington announced withdrawal from the World Health Organization and dodged its responsibilities as a major country despite objections from all over the world, Wang said.
The United States has become the biggest perpetrator to destroy the current international order, making it a country that stands in opposition to the historical trend and the international community, he added.
China will take firm countermeasures against the egregious behaviors that undermine China's legitimate rights and interests, Wang said, adding that China does not stir up troubles and always exercises maximum restraint.
Not long ago, the U.S. side forcefully demanded the closure of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, a provocation against China's sovereignty and dignity, which was surely met with China's legitimate and necessary response, Wang said, adding that this is consistent with customary diplomatic practices and a due right enjoyed by all sovereign nations.
Calling for rational communication between China and the United States, Wang said that Beijing will never allow a few anti-China elements to overturn decades of successful exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States, nor will Beijing allow ideological prejudice to undermine the future development of China-U.S. relations.
The U.S. reckless provocation of confrontation and division is so out of touch with the reality that the interests of China and the United States are deeply integrated and so out of sync with the common aspirations of people of all countries, Wang said.
The Chinese side, bearing in mind the common interests of the Chinese and American peoples and the people of the world, stands ready to strive to maintain the stability of China-U.S. relations through equal communication and exchanges with the U.S. side, Wang continued.
Wang urged the international community to jointly uphold solidarity and cooperation.
He voiced his belief that all countries will make the right and wise decisions, instead of being held hostage by a small number of U.S. politicians, and that all countries will make concerted efforts to prevent the world from being dragged into a new Cold War of conflict and confrontation, and to protect the process of globalization from being brutally interrupted.
Tolerating a bully will not keep anyone safe, but will only let the bully get bolder and act worse, Wang said, adding that all countries should act to resist any unilateral or hegemonic act and safeguard world peace and development.
Wang said that China remains full of confidence in the future of the world, because acts against what is right and good can never be popular and everlasting.
Peace and cooperation will surely be the choice of the times and the people, Wang added.
