Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang this morning blamed the United States for rising tensions between Washington and Beijing and warned that if the United States does not change course, no preventive measures could prevent a confrontation.
The United States should change its "distorted" attitude towards China or "conflict and confrontation" will continue, Gang has said as he defended his position on the war in Ukraine and justified his close ties with Russia. According to Qin, Washington "regards China as its main rival and the most important geopolitical challenge."
In a press conference in the Chinese parliament, the foreign minister added that the United States has been participating in the suppression and containment of China instead of maintaining fair competition based on rules. "It is our mission to defend China's interests. We firmly oppose the Cold War mentality, military confrontation and actions to contain and slow down the development of other countries. We will safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests Qin Gang concluded.
Relations between the two superpowers have been strained for years over a series of sensitive issues including Taiwan, trade and, most recently, the war in Ukraine. But the tension escalated last month after the United States shot down a balloon off the US east coast that it says was a Chinese spy craft.
