The press conference of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the session of the National People's Congress, as well as the entire course of the forum of the Chinese Parliament, confirmed that China is following its own "middle" path, promoting its own political and economic interests in various parts of the world. At the same time, China is trying to consolidate the results achieved, maintaining partnership and avoiding, as far as possible, escalation.
China — Russia: maintain mutually beneficial cooperation
At the press conference of the head of Chinese diplomacy, Russian journalists were primarily interested in the question: would the progress in contacts between the Russian Federation and the United States affect Russian-Chinese relations? With the understanding that, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have repeatedly stated, these relations have reached the highest level in history.
Moscow and Beijing pursue independent foreign policies based on their interests. It is remarkable that these interests coincide or are close on many fundamental issues of international relations. Trade and economic ties are successfully developing, although there are inconsistencies in banking services. It should be borne in mind that China's top three trading partners are the United States and the EU, and the Chinese yuan, despite its growing weight as the world's reserve currency, is still in the global monetary and financial system, as a result of which Chinese banks are somehow involved in Western sanctions regimes.
At the same time, responding to a question from a TASS correspondent, Wang Yi stressed that China and Russia are developing relations with each other that are not directed against third parties and exclude confrontation. "China and Russia have found a path of coexistence based on principles such as non—alignment with alliances, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties," the minister repeated the already honed formula. Regardless of the changes in the international arena, he continued, "the historical logic of Sino-Russian friendship remains unchanged," based on valuable historical experience. Wang Yi clarified that the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries is based on mutually beneficial cooperation and is win-win, which is most in line with the fundamental interests of the peoples of China and Russia.
With an eye to history
Chinese leader Xi Jinping often refers to history in his speeches. Reconciliation with a well-studied and correctly interpreted past is, one might say, a Chinese feature, part of the cultural code. Wang Yi noted that both sides have deeply studied their historical experience and decided to constantly maintain good-neighborly and friendly relations and carry out comprehensive strategic cooperation.
This year, he recalled, marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II and the victory of the Chinese people in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (as the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 is called in the PRC). China and Russia, the minister said, "fought bloody battles on the main battlefields in Asia and Europe, made huge sacrifices and made a significant historical contribution to the victory in the world anti-fascist war."
"We will jointly celebrate this important historical event, promote a correct view of the history of the Second World War and defend the achievements of victory," said the head of Chinese diplomacy. According to him, Beijing and Moscow will use the opportunity to celebrate together to preserve the fruits of victory, maintain the international system in which the UN plays a key role, and promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction.
Both sides have already indicated the participation of the Chinese president in the May 9 celebrations on Red Square, and the Russian President in the celebrations in Beijing on September 3.
This is an important point. Russian military historical science focuses on the defeat of the million-strong Kwantung army and, as a result, the liberation of Northeast China by the Soviet Army. In China, the emphasis is on the long struggle of the Chinese people against the Japanese occupiers, with the central role of the Chinese Communist Party, around which all the patriotic forces of the country rallied and united. There is no contradiction here — the issue is in the accents when interpreting historical events. A joint celebration with the participation of the leaders of two great historical dates removes this opposition of approaches, if anyone has seen it before. The rest relates to the problem of national identity.
The Ukrainian crisis: in search of consensus
The situation around Ukraine is the biggest issue of modern international politics, on which Beijing adheres to its approach from the very beginning.
"China has always adhered to an objective and fair position, voiced rational and pacifying proposals. China's goal is to create conditions for resolving the crisis, find consensus, and seek and support all efforts for a peaceful settlement," the Chinese Foreign Minister said.
The protracted crisis in Ukraine was not inevitable, Wang Yi believes. "All parties must learn from the crisis," the minister said. "Security is mutual and equal, the security of one country cannot be based on the lack of security of others." He called for upholding and putting into practice the new concept of "common, comprehensive and sustainable security based on cooperation," adding that this is the only way to truly establish sustainable peace and stability in Eurasia and around the world.
At the same time, the Russian position was expressed by Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, at a briefing the day before Wang Yi's press conference. She clarified that negotiations on Ukraine are not underway and there are no documents on this topic yet.
China — USA: don't put your eggs in one basket
I was also attracted by another press conference with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. He was immediately asked about China's possible reaction to the new tariff restrictions from the United States.
"There are no winners in the trade war, and protectionism is the way to nowhere," the minister said. "In response to the US unilateral tariffs, China has taken the necessary countermeasures, if they go further down the wrong path, we will fight to the end." He immediately recalled that China and the United States have common interests and a wide space for cooperation, and cooperation meets the interests of their peoples and the expectations of the international community. That is, from China's point of view, there is an alternative way to build relations between the first and second economies of the world.
"We hope to resolve the issues through equal dialogue and consultations, and the two sides can meet at an appropriate time," Wang said.
Let me remind you that on March 4, the Tariff Commission of the State Council of the People's Republic of China announced that starting on March 10, China would impose additional duties of 10-15% on American agricultural products in response to the tariff policy of US President Donald Trump. Additional duties of 15% will apply to chicken, wheat, corn and cotton from the United States. Additional duties of 10% are imposed on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
However, according to many experts, this can hardly be considered a full-fledged response to American measures. Trump signed a decree on increasing duties on Chinese imports from 10% to 20% due to the fact that Beijing allegedly is not taking enough measures to combat the smuggling of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States. At the same time, Chinese exports to the United States are more than four times higher than imports of American goods to China.
In general, judging by Wang Wentao's remarks, China is not so much afraid of Trump's aggressive tariff policy. The Minister recalled that China has been maintaining the status of the country with the largest trade turnover for eight years thanks to extensive foreign economic diversification. "Our trading partners have become more diverse, and China has become a major trading partner for more than 150 countries and regions. We don't put all our eggs in one basket," the Commerce Minister said.
Indeed, last year China increased trade with other countries by 3.8% compared to the previous year, to $6.16 trillion. The trade turnover between China and the United States also increased by 3.7%, amounting to $688.28 billion. Trade with the EU countries increased by 0.4% to $785.82 billion. But this figure increased the most with the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to $982.33 billion.
Another thing is that the ASEAN countries are competitors of China, which are trying to take over certain positions in world trade from it. The question, however, is how well they will succeed. Judge for yourself by the labels on your computers, household electrical appliances, shirts and sneakers. Not to mention the cars on the streets of Russian cities. And so (or something like that) — all over the world.
Taiwan — never
The topic of Taiwan has not passed by either. Wang Yi once again outlined Beijing's approach to this issue, since it is often raised by some foreign public. "The UN decision has completely resolved the issue of the representation of all of China in the UN, including Taiwan, and eliminated any possibility of having two Chinese representatives. The only name for the Taiwan region in the UN is Taiwan Province of China. Taiwan has never been a country, and this will not change in the future," the Chinese Foreign Minister said.
The Taiwan issue is complicating Beijing's relations with some European capitals. For example, a "Taiwan representative office" was opened in Vilnius. Beijing, which opposes an office with that name, recalled its ambassador from Lithuania and invited Vilnius to do the same. At the same time, Beijing agreed with the opening of a Taipei representative office, as it is done in other countries.
In general, China's relations with the European Union and individual European countries are not an easy topic today. For example, relations with France seem to be trusting. Of course, the business interests of the parties are great here. "The total volume of the economies of China and Europe exceeds a third of the global economy, and China—EU cooperation is of great strategic importance and has an impact on the whole world," Wang Yi said.
Beijing advocates strengthening the "autonomization" of Europe, and the current tensions between the United States and the EU, from the Chinese perspective, contribute to this trend.
It is clear that China's interests in the world are not limited to the United States, Europe and Russia. The session touched upon the topic of sovereignty in the South China Sea, politics in Africa, attitudes towards the Middle East escalation, etc. This broad coverage reflects the global dimension of Chinese foreign policy. Which was exactly what needed to be shown.
Andrey Kirillov
Columnist for the TASS representative office in Beijing
