MUNICH — American and European leaders are guilty of bigotry against China that is driving tensions between the communist regime and Western powers, according to Beijing’s top diplomat.
“China will not copy the Western model,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday through a Munich Security Conference translator. “The West needs to eschew the subconscious belief in the superiority of its civilization and abandon its prejudices and anxieties regarding China.”
That repudiation of liberal democracy was a major theme of Wang’s speech, as he argued Western officials should regard the authoritarian system as a salutary example of diversity in human relations. Just hours after two members of President Trump’s administration argued that the communist regime represents a systemic threat to Western democracy, Xi blamed the United States for the intensifying competition between Washington and Beijing.
“The root cause of all these problems and issues is that the U.S. does not want to see rapid development and rejuvenation of China,” Wang said. “Still less would they want to accept success of a socialist country.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged European allies to be wary of Chinese companies, given the potential for those deals to be exploited by the ruling authorities. They discouraged Huawei’s bid to take the lion’s share of the global market for 5G, the next generation of wireless technology, and faulted China for applying economic pressure to countries that ban the tech giant.
“When Huawei executives show up at your door, they say you’ll lose out if you don’t buy in,” Pompeo said. “Don’t believe the hype. Look, I know it’s not without cost to be courageous, to stand up for our sovereignty. I get it. But it’s never been the case that this was free. Name me a moment in history when the weak and the meek have prevailed.”
Wang adopted a dismissive tone when asked about such charges and accused the U.S. of hypocrisy. “I don’t want to waste our time responding to each and every thing they said,” he said. “All these accusations against China are lies. They’re not based on facts. But if we replace the subject of the lie from China to America, maybe those lies could become the facts.”
Esper appeared to anticipate that defense in his speech, as he argued Beijing is making predatory maneuvers as far away as outer space.
“While communist China is weaponizing the space domain through the development of directed-energy weapons and killer satellites, the Pentagon is standing up its first new military service in over 70 years — the United States Space Force — to ensure freedom of use, commerce, and navigation in, to, and through space, for all,” the Pentagon chief said. “Simply put, the contrast between China’s malevolent actions and United States’ leadership couldn’t be more obvious.”
