Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe has taken a veiled swipe at the United States for “instigating colour revolution” in other countries and using “long-arm tactics” to influence China’s internal affairs.
Speaking in Beijing at Monday’s opening ceremony of the Xiangshan Forum, China’s annual conference on security and defence issues, Wei told an audience of foreign military officers that nations should handle their differences through dialogue and mutual respect, and that China would never give in to foreign pressure.
“Wanton interference in other countries’ affairs will never win,” Wei said. “Interfering in other countries’ domestic affairs, instigating colour revolution or even attempts to subvert the legitimate governments of other countries are the real causes of wars and unrest in different regions [around the world].”
Although Wei did not specify the targets of his criticism, China has been at odds with the US over a wide range of geopolitical issues including Iran, Syria and Venezuela. It has also accused US politicians of supporting the ongoing anti-government protests [1] in Hong Kong, which Beijing has described as a “Hong Kong version of colour revolution”.
Without directly mentioning the US, Wei condemned major powers who “wield their big sticks”, such as sanctions, to exert “maximum pressure” on other countries to accede to their demands.
The US House of Representatives last week approved [2] the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, moving it a step closer to becoming law. It could pave the way for diplomatic action and economic sanctions against the Hong Kong government.
“Wielding the big sticks or resorting to long-arm jurisdiction cannot solve any problems, and sanctions are never effective to achieve any results,” Wei said. “The Chinese people don’t buy such intimidation and we are not afraid [to fight].”
The remarks by Wei were less hawkish than a similar speech [3] he gave at the same forum last year, in which he condemned the US for damaging relations with China and denounced attempts by Washington to form anti-China alliances with other nations.
Zhang Tuosheng, director of the foreign policy research centre at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said Wei’s latest speech was less critical because Beijing had decided that, while it needed to manage its differences with Washington, it was more important to identify common goals shared by the two countries.
“This position was set a year ago when President Xi Jinping visited Argentina,” Zhang said, referring to the meeting [4] between Xi and US President Donald Trump at the G20 summit.
