China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaking at the annual international relations symposium in Beijing on Dec 30. - AP
BEIJING: Beijing's top diplomat pitched China on Tuesday (Dec 30) as a guardian of stability, praising deepened regional ties while condemning trade wars and vowing to counter US arms sales to Taiwan.
"This year, economic globalisation has taken a severe hit and tariff wars have disrupted the international trade order," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a speech in Beijing.
"Facing a chaotic situation for world peace, China is an anchor of stability."
Earlier this year US President Donald Trump announced levies of over 100 per cent on Chinese goods, with Beijing responding with high tariffs of its own.
Tensions cooled months later after Trump met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea and they agreed to a one-year reprieve.
Speaking at an annual international relations symposium, Wang did not single out Washington for causing trade chaos, but said "cooperation between China and the United States benefits both sides while confrontation harms both".
He also warned the United States -- whose relationship with China he said was one of the world's most important -- against interfering with Beijing's national interests.
Earlier this month, Taipei said Washington had approved an US$11-billion arms package, angering Beijing and prompting large-scale military drills around the island.
"In response to the continuous provocations by pro-independence forces in Taiwan and the large-scale US arms sales to Taiwan, we must... resolutely oppose and forcefully counter them," Wang said.
Wang's comments came about an hour after China's military said it conducted live fire drills off Taiwan, drawing condemnation from the democratic island.
China claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has refused to rule out using military action to seize it.
Wang added that any attempt to obstruct China's unification with Taiwan "will inevitably end in failure".
He also highlighted Chinese President Xi's visits to Southeast Asia and Russia as evidence of the country's expanding regional role.
Wang also praised China's efforts in mediating conflicts in northern Myanmar, and between India and Pakistan and Thailand and Cambodia, as well as supporting nuclear diplomacy with Iran.
He further mentioned efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, welcoming international support for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but saying "the world still owes Palestine a fair path" to sovereignty. - AFP
