China's 'two sessions' 2024: what Foreign Minister Wang Yi had to say about US relations, Taiwan and wars in Ukraine and Gaza

Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that conflict between China and the United States would have "unimaginable consequences" when he faced the world's media on Thursday.

In a press conference during the "two sessions" - the annual meeting of the national legislature and top political advisory body - he fielded more than 20 questions on global issues ranging from Taiwan and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the relationship between the two superpowers.

Here are some of the key takeaways from his hour-and-half appearance.

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Wang told the press conference: "If there is conflict or confrontation between two major countries like the US and China, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Although he said relations have improved since the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden in California last year, Washington's misperceptions about China still linger and its promises have not been fulfilled.

"The US has been devising various tactics to suppress China," he said. "If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?"

He also responded to recent comments by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken - who told a security conference in Munich that "if you're not at the table in the international system, you're going to be on the menu" - by saying Beijing cannot allow "a few big countries to monopolise international affairs".

On this most sensitive of issues, Wang repeated Beijing's mantra that it would strive for peaceful reunification, but warned that those who support Taiwanese independence will "get burned for playing with fire".

The status of the island is a major source of contention with the US and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring it back under its control. The US, in common with most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as independent but opposes any forcible change to the status quo.

Wang said China's partnership with Moscow has been moving forward on a "high-level", with deepening trust and fresh opportunities ahead. He stressed that deepening this relationship was "not targeted at any party".

Wang repeated Beijing's calls for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Photo: AP alt=Wang repeated Beijing's calls for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Photo: AP>

In response to a separate question about the Ukraine war - now in its third year - he said China has an objective and impartial position, and supported the idea of holding a peace conference involving both Moscow and Kyiv. "The earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will come," Wang added.

He said differences in the disputed waters should be properly managed through dialogue and that disputes should be resolved by negotiations between claimant states.

China claims most of this key international waterway, but several other countries have competing claims, and Wang's comments follow a series of recent clashes with the Philippine coastguard centred on the Second Thomas Shoal.

Wang did not not mention any specific country in his response but warned that countries outside the region should not become disrupters in the South China Sea.

Wang called for a broad-based and authoritative international peace conference to come up with a road map to end the crisis.

He called on the international community to act promptly to promote an immediate ceasefire and repeated China's support for a two-state solution.

He said China and Europe should be "defenders of multilateralism", adding that cooperation should define their relationship.

One of the main questions in the mind of many observers beforehand was the fate of the previous foreign minister Qin Gang, who was abruptly removed from his post last year just months after succeeding Wang. To little surprise, Wang did not take any questions or offer any explanation about Qin's disappearance.

Although Wang fielded 21 questions there was nothing that touched specifically on two of China's biggest neighbours India and Japan, with more focus on China's relations with developing nations in other parts of the world.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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