Chinese FM: US should 'hit brakes' to avoid 'inevitable' conflict

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Upon his new appointment, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned during a media briefing on Tuesday that a conflict may be "inevitable" between the US and China if the former does not “hit the brake” in its policies towards the latter.

The former Chinese ambassador to the US brought up the balloon incident as evidence of US views towards China as the enemy and acts “with the presumption of guilt” toward it.

According to Qin, China was aiming for “a sound and stable relationship with the US” but the Biden administration’s request for “guardrails” was the US' insinuation “that China should not respond in word or in action when attacked,” describing it as "not possible."

Just in: Chinese FM Qin Gang @AmbQinGang on China-U.S. relations. #2023TwoSessions pic.twitter.com/d34mFuTyjS

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He added that if the US does not dial down its aggressive rhetoric towards China, “conflict and confrontation” will happen. 
 
“If the US does not hit the brake but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there will surely be conflict and confrontation,” he emphasized.

On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that her office found no evidence from the US that China has been supplying weapons to Russia. 

"So far, we have no such evidence, but this needs to be monitored daily," von der Leyen said.

When asked if China will be sanctioned if such a case is confirmed, von der Leyen said it would be addressed "only when it becomes reality."  

'Take Russia as an example'

Qin described China’s ties with Russia as an example for other nations to follow. 
 
“Relations between Russia and China are characterized by non-alignment with blocs, absence of confrontation and are not directed against third parties,” he said, referring to NATO, which was created to offset the Soviet Union during the Cold War. “[The relationship between China and Russia does] not pose a threat to any country in the world.”

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When asked about sanctions, Qin posed a question in response as to why the West was threatening China with sanctions when the latter did not even provide arms to either Russia or Ukraine. He further stated that sanctions are ineffective in solving the war and urged dialogue to occur as soon as possible. 

When China proposed a solution aiming at peace talks with Ukraine, the latter and its western allies rejected it, while propagating news that China is "considering" weapon shipments to Russia. 

Recently, China, Russia, and other nations have discussed the possibility of a “multipolar” world not vulnerable to the hegemony of the US. "The Russia-China cooperation can become a driver for the world towards multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations," 

China-US relations have gone further downhill as Washington is increasingly hyper-militarizing Pacific Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, in the face of Beijing, in addition to its weapons sales to Taiwan and gradually attempting to break the One-China policy.