'China never intended to challenge or confront US': Xi Jinping's FM's stunning climb down

Amid the rising tensions between the US and China over issues like Coronavirus pandemic, Beijing's action on Hong Kong among others, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday said both the countries are facing their most serious challenge since the establishment of diplomatic ties. He hoped that Washington will build a more objective understanding of China and a more rational policy towards Beijing.

'No intention of replacing the US'

"Due to ideological bias, some Americans are sparing no effort to view China as an adversary or even an enemy, trying every means to contain China's development and obstruct China-US relations," Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times quotes Wang as saying.

"China has never had any intention of challenging or replacing the US, or confront it comprehensively," Wang said addressing a US-China think tank media forum. He said that China maintains a high degree of stability and continuity in its policy toward the US, and stands ready to work with it on non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation to build a China-US relationship based on coordination, cooperation and stability.

'We do not copy the foreign model'

"Some people say that China-US relations cannot go back to what they used to be, but this does not mean that we can start anew regardless of history, nor can we force decoupling regardless of reality. Instead, we should build on the past and advance with the times," the senior diplomat said.

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"The claim that the success of China's path will threaten the West is neither true nor do we agree with it. We do not copy the foreign model, do not export the Chinese model and do not ask other countries to copy what China does," Wang said. He said China will not and cannot become another US. 

In the latest move, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said America is looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok. He told a TV channel that Trump Administration is certainly looking at banning these apps as they shared information with the Chinese government. The two countries have also slapped a series of new tariffs on each other since 2018,  which has escalated into a damaging trade war with experts saying that the rivalry can soon turn into another "cold war"

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