Foreign minister criticizes US tariffs and accuses the country of ‘meeting good with evil’

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate for the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs” and accused Washington of “meeting good with evil” in a press conference Friday on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary session.

Wang said China’s efforts to help the U.S. contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining their ties.

“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”

The U.S. this week levied duties against China as well as Canada and Mexico over accusations of fentanyl smuggling, which the countries have called unjustified. China maintains it’s done a lot to curb the exports of industrial chemicals used to make fentanyl over the past few years, and that illegal drug use in the U.S. is a domestic problem.

The duties were the latest in a series of retaliatory tariffs Washington and Beijing have imposed against one another since U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to office in January. The U.S. raised flat tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20%, while Beijing countered with additional 15% duties on U.S. imports including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies.

The foreign minister’s annual press conference is the one occasion on which Wang speaks to Chinese and foreign media on a range of topics. Friday’s event was dominated by questions about China’s ties with the US, along with other topics such as regional conflicts and collaborations within the Global South.

Regarding the Trump administration’s policy of safeguarding U.S. interests above international cooperation, Wang said such an approach, if adopted by every country in the world, would result in the “law of the jungle.”

“Small and weak countries will get burnt first, and the international order and rules will be under severe shock,” Wang said. “Major countries should undertake their international obligations … and not seek to profit from and bully the weak.”

On the Ukraine war, Wang reiterated China’s stance of supporting conflict resolution through political negotiations. Wang said that in hindsight, the Ukraine conflict “could have been avoided.”

“All parties should learn something from the crisis,” he said. “Among many other things, security should be mutual and equal, and no country should build its security on the insecurity of another.”

Wang stressed that China-Russia relations are as strong as ever despite recent consultations between the U.S. and Russia on ending the Ukraine war. He said Beijing and Moscow are planning joint celebrations this year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

On Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its own, Wang said “Taiwan has never been a country and will never be a country in the future.”

“Advocating for Taiwan independence is splitting the country, supporting Taiwan independence is interfering in China’s internal affairs, and conniving for Taiwan independence is undermining the stability of the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

Those who support Taiwan’s independence are “only playing with fire and will burn themselves,” Wang said.

Asked about Trump’s plan to take control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians in neighboring countries, Wang said Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and any forced change of the territory’s status would trigger new turbulence. He said China backs the peace plan put forth by Egypt and other Arab countries and reiterated Beijing’s support for a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes place again and again simply because the two-state solution is only half-achieved,” Wang said. “The state of Israel has long been a reality, but the state of Palestine is still far beyond reach.” SIMINA MISTREANU, BEIJING, MDT/AP