China, too, however, has selectively applied norms of international law to its own actions, aggressively pursuing dominance in the South China Sea and rejecting UN findings that it had committed “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
Wang’s comments build on China’s championing of a multipolar world, in which the US is not the dominant enforcer of global security. As part of this, China has stepped up its diplomatic courting of Global South countries in Asia and Africa, upon whose votes it relies in UN forums to reject resolutions denouncing its human rights record.
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Australia, the US and its allies see China as the biggest challenge to regional security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Wang also reiterated that Beijing would continue to retaliate against US tariffs, setting the stage for an escalating trade feud between the world’s two largest economies.
“If one side exerts pressure, China will resolutely counter that,” Wang told journalists, denouncing the tariffs as arbitrary and something “no responsible major country should do”. He added that both countries still have “broad common interests and space for co-operation”.
China fired back at the US with its own package of retaliatory tariffs and trade curbs on Tuesday, but many experts believe China’s response, which targeted tariffs at meat and farm products rather than imposing sweeping duties, signals Beijing’s willingness to strike a trade deal with the US.
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