China’s Xi blames US for ‘containment and suppression’ amid tensions

ABC News:

On the sidelines of China‘s annual National People’s Congress this week, both Chinese President Xi Jinping and newly promoted Foreign Minister Qin Gang aired their respective frustrations at the United States.

In a closed-door session with delegates from China’s private sector Monday, Xi made a rare direct reference to the United States when blaming Washington for his nation’s economic challenges.

In the Chinese-language readout of the meeting from the Xinhua News Agency, Xi said, “The Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, containment and suppression on our country, bringing unprecedented severe challenges to the our development.” The criticism does not appear in the English-language version.

Xi’s remarks come as U.S.-China tension have remained high since the U.S. accused Beijing of sending a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States last month and then proceeding to shoot it down with fighter jet.

Despite both sides having signalled a desire for a reset when Xi met with President Joe Biden at the G20 in Bali last November, the two largest economies in the world remain at odds on a whole host of issues not limited to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Taiwan and advanced semiconductors.

The Chinese leader’s frustrations during Monday’s panel discussion came on the heels of the U.S. asking Japan and the Netherlands to tighten export controls of chip manufacturing equipment and technologies to China, prompting an angry response from Beijing.

During his first press conference as foreign minister, Qin Gang — most recently the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. — warned that while Beijing was “committed” to stable ties with Washington, the relationship will worsen if the U.S. does not change its attitude toward China and potentially incite conflict.