On day three of China’s annual National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, signalled that Beijing intended to hold firm against growing international criticism of its perceived expansionist and hostile activity and domestic human rights abuses.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, at which he only took pre-vetted questions from selected journalists, Wang said “candid communication” with the US was necessary to avoid “strategic missteps and conflict”, and that cooperation on issues including the Covid-19 pandemic, economic recovery and climate change should be the main bilateral goal.
“We hope the United States will move in the same direction and remove all its unreasonable restrictions on bilateral cooperation as soon as possible, not create new obstacles,” he said, an apparent reference to the sanctions and legislated restrictions on Chinese trade, diplomacy, and media introduced by Trump and which Joe Biden has said will be reviewed.
