File image of Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi speaking at the UN General Assembly | Twitter
File image of Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi speaking at the UN General Assembly | Twitter
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Beijing: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would respond “firmly and rationally” to peremptory U.S. acts and called on other countries to resist what he called America’s bullying, as bilateral relations hit multi-decade lows.

Wang said that “with the U.S. being so blatant and peremptory, China will respond firmly and rationally,” according to a Foreign Ministry statement that cited a Tuesday phone call with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian. “First, China will take firm countermeasures against the egregious behaviors that undermine China’s legitimate rights and interests. China doesn’t stir up trouble and always exercises maximum restraint.” The statement didn’t elaborate on what the countermeasures might be.

“Tolerating a bully will not keep you safe. It will only let the bully get bolder and act worse,” Wang added. “All countries should act to resist any unilateral or hegemonic act and safeguard world peace and development.”

The actions of some political factions in the U.S. “have forsaken the most basic sense of propriety” and “breached the very bottom line of international norms,” Wang told Le Drian. “Such behavior is stark power politics that can be captured by one word: hegemony.”

Bilateral relations have deteriorated to levels China has called the lowest since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979. Recent tit-for-tat forced closures of the Chinese consulate in Houston and U.S. mission in Chengdu dragged down markets as the world economy slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Wang also held a phone call Tuesday with U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, exchanging views on Hong Kong and 5G technology.

“China-U.K. relations are currently encountering obstacles and interference,” said Wang, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement about the call. Speaking about 5G technology, he said that “regrettably, the U.K. side, under pressure and coercion from individual countries, has politicized business issues and discriminated against Chinese companies.”

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According to the Chinese statement Raab said that while there were some current challenges between the U.K. and China, they didn’t represent the whole of their bilateral relations. He added that the U.K. did not want a comprehensive “reset” in relations.

Tensions between the two countries have risen in recent weeks after the U.K. banned Huawei Technologies Co. from its fifth generation wireless networks, citing the impact of U.S. sanctions against the Chinese tech giant, and offered a pathway to future citizenship for millions of Hong Kong citizens after Beijing imposed a new national security law on the city.- Bloomberg

 

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