Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi speaks during the 2023 Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 18, 2023.Johannes Simon | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING
— China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi struck a more
conciliatory tone on U.S. relations during a high-profile press
conference on Friday, in contrast to the ministry’s
more aggressive language earlier in the week.
While
Wang said the U.S. should not impose “arbitrary tariffs” or return
goodwill with hostility, he emphasized that the two countries would both
be part of the world for a long time, requiring “peaceful coexistence.”
“Given
the extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation, it is
fully possible for China and the U.S. to become partners helping each
other succeed,” Wang said in Mandarin, via an official translation.
He
spent much of the roughly 90-minute press conference talking about
China’s efforts to improve relations with other countries and supporting
the interests of non-Western nations.
Wang is also director of
the office for foreign affairs within the Communist Party of China’s
central commission, making him the country’s most senior diplomat. He
was speaking to reporters during China’s annual parliamentary meeting,
known as the “Two Sessions.”
His comments came shortly after China hit back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s mounting trade tariffs.
“If
war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any
other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the Chinese
Embassy in the U.S. said in a post Wednesday on X.
Tensions
between the U.S. and China have escalated in the last several days.
Trump earlier this week imposed yet another 10% of tariffs on Chinese
goods, to which
Beijing retaliated with targeted duties on U.S. agricultural products and restrictions on several U.S. companies.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao indicated to reporters Thursday that Beijing was willing to meet with the U.S. for talks on trade.
Russia-Ukraine war
Wang
maintained on Friday that Beijing wants to play a constructive role in
achieving “lasting peace” in the Russia-Ukraine war, while stating
that China’s friendship with Moscow would not change.
Wang
advocated for a two-state solution around Gaza and said the current
situation only marked halfway progress toward such a resolution.
China’s
foreign minister also said “unjustified external suppression” has not
stopped Chinese technological development, and cast Beijing as willing
to share its tech with other countries rather than keep it to itself.
In
a proposed budget released this week for government spending this year,
China plans to increase spending on diplomatic endeavors by 8.4% versus
a 6.6% increase last year.