During a news conference Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the United States should abandon its “wishful thinking about changing China” and stop pushing the two countries “to the brink of a new Cold War.” He sent this message to Washington during the National People’s Congress, described by the Washington Post as “an annual piece of political theatre.”
“China has no intention to change, still less replace the United States,” Wang said Sunday before a selected group of journalists. “It’s time for the United States to give up its wishful thinking of changing China and stopping 1.4 billion people in their historic march toward modernization.”
That’s one way to spin the growing tensions between the United States and China, I suppose. Most Americans, however, expect China to be held responsible for its lack of transparency and mishandling of the initial outbreak of the coronavirus that turned into a pandemic. As more countries around the world look for answers, China is feeling the pressure, so its foreign minister is lashing out at the United States. Wang said American politicians “are taking China-U.S. relations hostage and pushing our two countries to the brink of a new Cold War.”
“This dangerous attempt to turn back the will of history will undo the fruits of decades-long China-U.S. cooperation, dampen America’s own development prospects and put world stability and prosperity in jeopardy,” Wang said.
Perhaps Wang is trying to distract with this aggressive language – China is feeling pressure from the WHO to allow them to investigate the source of the coronavirus, with other countries signing on to such a request. At the same time, President Trump has put the WHO on notice that the United States will cut off funding if the WHO doesn’t stop acting as a puppet for the Communist China government. So far China is refusing to allow such an investigation, saying that an investigation should wait until the pandemic ends.
It’s rich that Wang called on the United States to contain the coronavirus and “stop wasting time and stop wasting precious lives” when China allowed air travel out of its country and into Europe after stopping air travel into its country earlier this year. Those flights from Europe brought the virus to the United States, especially to states like New York, while flights from China to western states like Washington State and California brought the coronavirus to them before Trump initiated the U.S. travel ban. Fortunately, after the initial case in Washington State appeared, Trump moved quickly at the suggestion of expert advisers to mostly stop air travel into the United States, beginning with flights from China.
Wang criticizes U.S. politicians for pointing a finger at the Chinese government while projecting guilt back on the United States. Wang calls it a “political virus” coming from the United States and frankly, he sounds a lot like many of Trump’s opponents – the Chinese are needlessly being attacked and smeared.
“Aside from the devastation caused by the novel coronavirus, there is also a political virus spreading through the US,” he said.
“This political virus is the use of every opportunity to attack and smear China. Some politicians completely disregard basic facts and have fabricated too many lies targeting China, and plotted too many conspiracies.”
Let’s not forget that Chinese officials have been guilty of propaganda smears against the United States during this pandemic. For example, a spokesman for Wang suggested American soldiers brought the coronavirus to Wuhan during military games held there last October.
President Trump initially bent over backward to not blame the Chinese government for its gross mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. He continued to praise his working relationship with President Xi Jinping through February. One newspaper – affiliated with the Communist Party – reports that “punitive countermeasures” may be coming against specific American politicians.
The Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, reported Sunday that China was “considering punitive countermeasures” against some American politicians leading the efforts to hold it accountable for the virus.
These included Eric Schmitt, the Missouri attorney general who filed a lawsuit against China seeking compensation for the coronavirus pandemic, and congressmen including Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, the paper reported, citing anonymous “sources close to the matter.”
At least four representatives and two entities would be sanctioned by China, reported the paper, which often reflects the foreign policy thinking of the party.
That’s as big a waste of time as the lawsuits filed against the Chinese government by Schmitt and any other American politicians looking to create headlines.
This hyperbole may also be an attempt to distract international attention away from Chinese legislation proposed Friday that imposes a law to suppress Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
The Communist Chinese government has never been worthy of American trust. The actions that were taken during the pandemic simply reminded the world of how brutal the government is and must now be held accountable for the damage the pandemic brought to human life and economies around the world.