Key points
- Major powers “should not bully the weak: Chinese FM
- US levied an additional 10pc on Chinese imports this week
- US and China must coexist peacefully: Wang
BEIJING: China will “resolutely counter” US pressure on tariffs and the fentanyl issue, China’s top diplomat said on Friday, saying that major powers “should not bully the weak.
Reuters and AFP reported that Wang Yi presented China as a reliable international power. The US levied an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports this week, according to Reuters.
“If one side blindly exerts pressure, China will resolutely counter that,” Reuters cited Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying. He expressed these remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary meeting.
The US “should not repay kindness with grievances, let alone impose tariffs without reason,” Wang said.
No nation can suppress China on the one hand and develop good relations with China on the other, said Wang, when asked how Beijing would engage with the Trump administration over the next four years.
A “two-faced” approach
Such a “two-faced” approach is not helpful to stable ties, he said, without identifying any individual in the US administration.
“There are around 190 countries in the world,” Wang said.
AFP cited him as saying that the policy currently implemented by the US was “not how a responsible major nation behaves”.
He told the attending press that good China-US economic and trade relations benefitted all sides.
“If you choose to cooperate, you can achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results,” the foreign minister said. “If you use only pressure, China will firmly counter.”
“The United States and China will both exist on this planet for a long time, so they must coexist peacefully,” Wang stressed.
