Chinese state media has warned that the United States must better cooperate with China to avoid “disastrous” conflict.
China Daily, produced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the largest English-language publication in the East Asian country. In an editorial published on Thursday, the outlet said there has been “growing concern around the world” of possible conflict between China and the U.S., adding that Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s remarks at a Thursday news conference in Beijing “are being parsed for clues as to whether such a disastrous scenario can be avoided.”
A major source of rising tension between the U.S. and China has been the independence of Taiwan. China claims that Taiwan, which separated from the mainland following a civil war in 1949, is Chinese territory. Taiwan has its own government and functions as a sovereign nation.
The U.S. considers Taiwan a key partner in the Indo-Pacific region and President Joe Biden has said that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan if China tried to invade.
China Daily warned “the elephant in the room that will always shake the foundations of any attempts to build better relations, is the Taiwan question.
“Any attempts to exploit the Taiwan question, which is an internal affair of China, will always call into question the US’ sincerity and its commitment to mending relations.”
Throughout the editorial, China Daily blamed the U.S. for its estranged relationship with China.
“In a bid to prevent that apocalyptic scenario from happening, [Wang] said that China always strives to maintain continuity in its policy toward the US, adhering to the principles of mutual respect and win-win cooperation.
“Unfortunately, the same cannot be said by Washington [, D.C.], which, as Wang pointed out, has not only failed to fulfill all commitments it has made to Beijing, but also continually says one thing while doing another.”
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of State via online form and the Chinese Foreign Ministry via email for…
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