USA - State Department Spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that the Biden administration’s China strategy isn’t about “containing” or “holding back” the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Price made the remarks in response to a question about comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Qin Gang this week, in which both men accused the United States of trying to stifle China. Price said the Biden administration is interested in trying to out-compete China, not suppress it.
Xi made a rare direct rebuke of Washington in his speech to China’s National People’s Conference, with additional remarks that did not appear in the English transcript of the event, NPR reported. “Western countries led by the US have implemented comprehensive containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedented severe challenges to our country’s development,” he reportedly said, NPR reported.
Qin, who most recently served as China’s ambassador to the United States before being named Foreign Minister just weeks ago, elaborated further, saying, “If the United States does not hit the brakes, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and there will surely be conflict and confrontation,” the outlet reported.