Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi speaks during the 2023 Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 18, 2023.
Johannes Simon | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING — China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi struck a more conciliatory tone on U.S. relations during a high-profile press conference on Friday, in contrast to the ministry’s more aggressive language earlier in the week.
While Wang said the U.S. should not impose “arbitrary tariffs” or return goodwill with hostility, he emphasized that the two countries would both be part of the world for a long time, requiring “peaceful coexistence.”
“Given the extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation, it is fully possible for China and the U.S. to become partners helping each other succeed,” Wang said in Mandarin, via an official translation.
He spent much of the roughly 90-minute press conference talking about China’s efforts to improve relations with other countries and supporting the interests of non-Western nations.
Wang is also director of the office for foreign affairs within the Communist Party of China’s central commission, making him the country’s most senior diplomat. He was speaking to reporters during China’s annual parliamentary meeting, known as the “Two Sessions.”
His comments came shortly after China hit back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s mounting trade tariffs.
“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. said in a post Wednesday on X.
Tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated in the last several days. Trump earlier this week imposed yet another 10% of tariffs on Chinese goods, to which Beijing retaliated with targeted duties on U.S. agricultural products and restrictions on several U.S. companies.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao indicated to reporters Thursday that Beijing was willing to meet with the U.S. for talks on trade.
Russia-Ukraine war
Wang maintained on Friday that Beijing wants to play a constructive role in achieving “lasting peace” in the Russia-Ukraine war, while stating that China’s friendship with Moscow would not change.
Wang advocated for a two-state solution around Gaza and said the current situation only marked halfway progress toward such a resolution.
China’s foreign minister also said “unjustified external suppression” has not stopped Chinese technological development, and cast Beijing as willing to share its tech with other countries rather than keep it to itself.
In a proposed budget released this week for government spending this year, China plans to increase spending on diplomatic endeavors by 8.4% versus a 6.6% increase last year.