By Ryan Woo, Ethan Wang and Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) -China said on Friday it will “resolutely counter” pressure from the United States on the fentanyl issue and presented itself as a stable global power amid geopolitical turmoil, in an appeal to Global South countries.
Washington levied an additional 10% tariffs on Chinese imports this week over the continued flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the country, threatening to worsen an escalatory spiral of trade actions against China and other countries including Canada and Mexico.
“The abuse of fentanyl is an issue that the U.S. has to solve itself,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a briefing on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary meeting.
“If one side blindly exerts pressure, China will resolutely counter that,” he said, adding that both countries still have “broad common interests and space for cooperation”.
“No country can imagine that it can suppress China on one hand while developing good relations with China on the other hand,” Wang added.
He said that the U.S. “should not repay kindness with grievances, let alone impose tariffs without reason,” referring to the “various assistance” Beijing has provided Washington over the years on the fentanyl issue.
Wang was also bullish U.S.-China tech competition, saying that “where there is a blockade, there is a breakthrough, and where there is suppression, there is innovation.”
On resolving the Ukraine war, China wants to achieve a “fair, lasting and binding peace agreement” acceptable to all parties, Wang Yi said.
“China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in the final resolution of the crisis and the realization of lasting peace, in accordance with the wishes of the parties concerned, together with the international community.”
Western countries have urged Beijing to take a more active role in using its economic leverage over Russia to stop the war, but Beijing has so far refused to publicly criticise its strategic partner.
In one of the first answers of the press conference, Wang said China-Russia relations are a “constant in a turbulent world, not a variable in geopolitical games”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently reaffirmed Beijing’s “no limits” partnership with Moscow in a telephone call with his Russian counterpart on the third anniversary of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently began talks with Russia after virtually no contact since the war began, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that Washington wished to “peel off” Moscow from Beijing.
GLOBAL SOUTH
Wang Yi also urged developing countries to “continue to improve our representation and discourse power in global governance”, while facing pressure from the U.S.
“If every country emphasizes its own national priority and believes in strength and status, the world will regress to the law of the jungle, small and weak countries will bear the brunt, and the international rules and order will be severely impacted,” said Wang in a veiled reference to Washington’s actions.
“Major powers should assume international obligations and fulfill their responsibilities as major powers. They should not be profit-driven, and they should not bully the weak.”
Within the first two months of taking office, President Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from several multilateral organisations and climate agreements, suspended most foreign aid, and voted against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia for the Ukraine invasion.
(Reporting by Laurie Chen, Ryan Woo and Ethan Wang in Beijing; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln Feast.)
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