(AFP/Odd ANDERSEN)
The head of Chinese diplomacy delivered a violent charge against Washington on Saturday, denouncing its “hysterical” reaction to the overflight of a balloon and its economic “protectionism”.
In front of an audience of international leaders and experts gathered at the Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi drew up an indictment against the United States.
First target: the American reaction, considered “absurd and hysterical” to the overflight of American territory by a Chinese balloon.
This aircraft, a spy balloon according to Washington, a “civilian” object assures Beijing, was shot down on February 4 by an American Air Force plane.
– “Abuse” of force –
“There are a lot of balloons in the sky, from different countries. Do you want to shoot down each one of them? This does not show that America is strong,” Wang Yi got carried away at the podium.
For this high diplomat, “it is a 100% abuse of the use of force (…)”.
It was a simple weather research balloon that drifted involuntarily in American airspace, repeated the head of diplomacy.
“We urge the United States not to do such absurd things just to divert attention from its domestic problems,” Wang Yi said.
“We have asked the United States to handle this situation in a calm and professional manner,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the United States ignores these facts and uses advanced fighter jets to shoot down a balloon with their missiles, which I think is absurd and hysterical,” Wang Yi blasted.
Wang Yi presented his country as a champion of “peace”, a word repeated around thirty times, and reiterated that Moscow and Kiev should “sit around the table and find” a “political” solution to the conflict.
(AFP/Thomas KIENZLE)
The American vice-president, Kamala Harris, also present in Munich, questioned the neutrality displayed by China.
The United States is “troubled by the fact that Beijing has deepened its relationship with Moscow since the start of the war,” she said.
“Any move by China to provide lethal support to Russia would only reward aggression, continue the killing and further undermine a rules-based order,” the vice president warned.
The Europeans for their part, notably Germany and France, still hope to convince China to put pressure on Vladimir Putin so that he puts an end to the war.
Paris had estimated Thursday that “the time for reconnection” with China, where Emmanuel Macron will soon go, had come.
– Fierce battle –
But between Washington and Beijing, there are many differences: imbalance in trade relations, the situation in Hong Kong, American relations with Taiwan, human rights and even technological rivalry.
It is on this last aspect that Wang Yi continued his charge, denouncing the American restrictions on the export of electronic chips.
These restrictions are “100%” “protectionism”. They are “100% selfish, 100% unilateral” and are “in serious violation of the principle of free trade”, argued the head of Chinese diplomacy.
Wang Yi judged that these restrictions testified “to an erroneous perception of China” on the part of the United States.
In October, the United States, in the name of “national security” announced new export controls aimed at limiting Beijing’s ability to buy and manufacture high-end chips “used in military applications”.
(AFP/Thomas KIENZLE)
Washington’s ambition is to complicate Beijing’s development of its own semiconductor industry. The latter are the subject of a fierce battle between the two economic powers for technological domination.
The United States regularly accuses China of industrial espionage and threats to its national security.
In response, China announced in December the filing of proceedings with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, also present in Munich, on Saturday called on Westerners “not to make the same mistake with China” as with Russia, which has created energy ties with Europe. .
“We must not become too dependent on the products and raw materials that we import,” he added.
© 2023 AFP
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