Xi: Korean War "proves China cannot be provoked"

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the Korean War 70 years ago had let the world know that Chinese people "cannot be provoked."Addressing an audience of thousands, including some Korean War veterans, at a conference to mark the anniversary of the Chinese army entering North Korea to resist the US army, Xi said Chinese people will be "difficult to deal with" if they are provoked to anger.

Xi also warned that China would never allow its sovereignty, interests or territories to "suffer." "Any form of blackmail, blockade and extreme pressure will not work at all," Xi said. He did not mention the US by name, but his remarks came when the US-Chinese relations have plunged to their lowest level in decades amid an array of conflicts over the coronavirus pandemic, technology, trade, security, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang.

Beijing, meanwhile, remains North Korea's most important diplomatic ally and trading partner, and has pushed back at U.S. efforts to bring economic pressure on Pyongyang to prompt it to end its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Trump shook up China's leaders by hiking tariffs on Chinese exports in 2018 over complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. The White House has lobbied allies to exclude Huawei, China's first global tech brand, from next-generation telecom networks on security grounds.

Huawei's access to American components and technology was cut off, threatening to cripple its global sales. Trump is trying to bar Chinese social media companies from the United States, citing fears they might gather too much personal information about Americans.

Unease about Beijing's military and strategic ambitions is widespread among American allies and in Washington. China has increased military activity around Taiwan in what it calls a deliberate attempt to force political concessions from the pro-independence administration of President Tsai Ing-wen.

The increase in Chinese incursions into Taiwanese airspace and military exercises seen as targeting US and Taiwanese assets add to Beijing's years-long campaign of exerting economic and diplomatic pressure on the island, which has left it with just 15 formal diplomatic allies.