Qin Gang, China's new foreign minister, has warned of inevitable "confrontation and conflict" between the U.S. and China unless the U.S. changes course, but Virginia Rep. Rob Wittman responded by saying Gang's words are "fundamentally incorrect" and "misleading."
In statements released this week by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gang criticized American policies, questioning President Joe Biden's assertion that the U.S. seeks competition with China, but not conflict. According to an NBC News report, Gang argued that the U.S. seeks to contain and suppress, rather than engaging in fair competition. Gang emphasized that the future of the world depends on a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship, adding that "we hope the U.S. government will listen to the calls of the two peoples, rid of its strategic anxiety of 'threat inflation' and abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality."
Wittman disagreed, saying "the Chinese Foreign Minister placing blame on the U.S. for increased tensions is fundamentally incorrect and purposefully misleading. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) actively seeks to undermine the U.S. at home and abroad through military aggression, financial exploitation and media manipulation. Beijing’s actions speak louder than their words. I condemn CCP attempts to mislead the American public – we will continue to hold Beijing accountable.”
NBC News reported that the Chinese foreign minister's news conference took place on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's rubber-stamp legislature, where President Xi Jinping is expected to complete the biggest government reshuffle in a decade. Gang rebuked Washington's decision early last month to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, repeating Beijing's claims that it appeared over America by accident.
“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,” the foreign minister said in the report. He also blamed the U.S. for the issues regarding Taiwan, as the U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer.
“The U.S. bears unshirkable responsibility for the creation of the Taiwan issue,” Gang said.
NBC also reported that China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, and China has tried to appear neutral in that war. Beijing has not condemned Russian aggression or called it an invasion. Gang commented that China-Russia relations "must move steadily forward" as the world becomes more turbulent.
Wittman recently told Fox Business, "We need to strategically isolate China. We need to regulate their financial impact in markets that directly fund the CCP. Stop the sale of agricultural lands to the CCP." He called for "countering" the Chinese and to "raise the level of emergency on this matter."
The congressman also tweeted that the CCP has increased military spending by 7.2% this year.
