In a press briefing with major American Media outlet , China’s Ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, stated that Beijing has learnt from the fall of the Soviet Union and would not face a similar fate. Qin Gang said “If people really want to launch a Cold War against China, I can say that China won’t be the loser,”. He further said “Those people cannot win the Cold War. First, China is not the former Soviet Union. The Chinese Communist Party is not like Soviet Union Communist Party. The CPC is old, 100 years old, just celebrating the centenary, eating the big birthday cake,”
When asked about the likelihood of a Cold War between the US and China, Gang ruled it out and instead asked why people believe such a conflict is feasible. Furthermore, he chastised the United States for having a “Cold War mentality.” He also stated that the United States is not the same as it was 30 years ago, and that China’s ” interests are closely intertwined with Washington.”
Gang said “Where could a New Cold War come from? Why do people feel that the Cold War is coming back? Because some people in the US have a Cold War mentality and take China as the former Soviet Union. But China is not the Soviet Union,”. According to him “The US is the biggest trading partner of China, and China is the third biggest trading partner of the US, only next to Canada and Mexico, your two neighbours. This year’s trade volume will certainly exceed 700 billion US dollars, a 20 per cent increase year-on-year,”.
Qin Gang also advised US authorities to handle relations with Taiwan ” cautiously,” saying it had become a big potential flashpoint. He also stated that nuclear discussions with the United States are improbable because China’s arsenal does not “equal” America’s in size.
Washington has securities arrangement with Taiwan and is committed to maintain regional balance in Indian Ocean through AUKUS and Quad and provide security to its partner in the region.
According to briefing made by the Chinese embassy briefing, on October 21, an official of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) of the US Department of State has said that China has misused the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 to block Taiwan from participating in UN activities, and called for helping Taiwan to take part in UN activities at an event organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
According to the briefing “Such comments disregard facts and are highly misleading. Their true purpose is to create “one China, one Taiwan”, and blatantly challenge the one-China principle. This is a serious political provocation to China and a malign distortion of international law and universally recognized norms governing international relations. China expresses its firm opposition and has lodged a solemn representation with the US side”. China has emphasised three points:
The First is one China Policy. China has said that ”First, there is only one China in the world. Taiwan has been and will always be an inalienable part of Chinese territory. It is NOT an independent sovereign country. This is an iron-clad fact and a broad international consensus ascertained by a set of international treaties and agreements. The Cairo Declaration jointly issued by China, the US and the UK in 1943 states that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Taiwan, and the Pescadores, shall be restored to China. The Potsdam Proclamation issued in 1945 reaffirms that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. Any attempt to challenge the one-China principle or to create “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan” is doomed to fail”.
The Second is Taiwan has no right to join the UN as its not sovereign state. It said, “the United Nations is an intergovernmental international organization composed of sovereign states. Article 4 of the UN Charter clearly states that only sovereign states have the right to become members of the United Nations. On October 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, restoring the seat of the People’s Republic of China in the UN and all its legitimate rights. The UN and its affiliated agencies expelled the representatives of Taiwan authorities. As an inalienable part of Chinese territory, Taiwan has no right whatsoever to join the UN. The US official’s erroneous comments are a deliberate distortion and real misuse of Resolution 2758, and constitute a challenge to and blasphemy of the international conscience and the authority of the UN. They should be jointly condemned by the international community”
Thirdly US is helping Taiwan in increasing its international space. Chinese Spokesperson said that “the US side, while claiming to adhere to the one-China policy, keeps using different tactics to upgrade its relations with Taiwan, help Taiwan expand its “international space”, and embolden the “Taiwan independence” forces. This has fully exposed its Cold-War mentality and sinister schemes of “using Taiwan to contain China”. We urge the US side not to underestimate the Chinese people’s strong resolve, will and capacity to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and not to stand on the opposite side of the 1.4 billion Chinese people. We urge the US side to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US Joint Communiques, exercise caution in words and deeds on the Taiwan question, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces, so as not to seriously damage China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”
Its not too long ago when then US President Donald Trump’s fixation with trade deficits prompted him to impose punitive tariffs on China in 2018 and as a result bilateral relation between the two countries took a fall., China’s access to high-tech US products and foreign investments were restricted due to security concerns and tariffs were imposed to curb unfair Chinese business practises. Joe Biden has gone full scale to protect Us interest from threats arising from Chinese actions. According to him US- China conflict is “a battle between the utility of democracies in the twenty-first century and autocracies.”
Qin Gang statement has to be interpreted in the light of Chinese strategy for dealing with various scenario arising from potential conflict between US & China. Over the years China’s national strategist has closely studied the fall of USSR and has learned important lessons from it. China is different from erstwhile Soviet Union in a sense that it is in no race to prove that communism is a better model. In-fact it has used market power to grow the Chinese economy and make it economic super power. Second most important lesson China has learned is that, to not let the economy crumble under any situation to the point where it will collapse under its own weight. It has been relentlessly working to grow its geo-politic influence to grow the economy, internationalisation of Yuan, digitisation of currency, decentralisation of global payment architecture and development of cutting-edge military technology and infrastructure. Statement from Qin Gang is reflection of the fact that Chinese strategist are working on the various scenario to win the Cold War.
Bureau Galactik Views