At the Munich Security Conference, today, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave a straightforward and tough response to those talking about “decoupling” or “de-risking.” While noting that China is attempting to maintain continuity and stability in a turbulent world, he said that “competition is not the trend of the times.” “Today ... more people have come to realize that the absence of cooperation is the biggest risk,” Wang said. “Those who attempt to shut China out in the name of de-risking will make a historical mistake…. The world economy is like a big ocean that cannot be cut into isolated lakes. The trend toward economic globalization cannot be reversed. We need to work together to make globalization more universally beneficial and inclusive,” AP quoted him as saying.
“No matter how the world changes, China is a responsible major country that will keep its major principles and policies consistent and stable,” Wang said. “In a turbulent world China will be a force for stability,” he was quoted by South China Morning Post. Wang emphasized that China had a unique way of dealing with crises that would prove beneficial to the world.
He talked about the nature of China’s relationship with Russia. Yesterday he had met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Blinken had made a major point of trying to get China to distance itself from Russia. Wang Yi made clear that that was not going to happen. He said that the China-Russia relationship was based on “no alliances, no confrontation, and not targeting a third country.” Rather it was the example of what a “major-power relationship” should look like. He also made a point of underlining the importance of Europe’s relationship to China in that respect.
