China points direction for post-pandemic world – The Global Times

The Global Times reports that China is "pointing out the correct direction - improving and reforming globalization; upholding multilateralism - for the world to create a brighter future after the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese analysts said after the Chinese foreign minister's press conference on the sidelines of the annual national legislative session on Sunday."

The article explained that the "Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi elaborated at the press conference on Chinese foreign policy and strategy on the sidelines of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing. He also fired back at provocations and stigmatization from the US." You can read on that here: China's plan of national security law in Hong Kong puts Trump in an unwelcome spot with Xi.

A "political virus" was spreading in the US, Wang said at the press conference. That virus was of losing no chance to attack and smear China, he said.

"Some politicians ignored the basic facts and made up countless lies and conspiracy theories concerning China," Wang said.

Such lies were recently compiled into a list and posted on the internet, he noted.

"The longer the list, the more it says about how low the rumormongers are willing to go and the more stains they will leave in history," Wang said.

This was the first time a top diplomat and state councilor of China formally responded to senior US officials and politicians' provocative and stigmatizing words and acts, said Chinese analysts.

This kind of "political virus" was more difficult to eliminate than COVID-19 because it was determined by a deep-rooted Cold War and Sinophobic mentality in the brains of those US politicians, they noted.    

"Some political forces in the US are taking China-US relations hostage and pushing us two countries to the brink of a new Cold War. This is a dangerous attempt to turn back the wheel of history," Wang said. 

The two sides "should and must find a way of peaceful co-existence and mutually beneficial cooperation," he said.

The COVID-19 epidemic was the common enemy of China and the US, and it is a shared wish of both peoples to support and help each other, Wang noted.

China's policy toward the US had not significantly changed, according to Wang's remarks, Jin said.

"China still insists on a cooperative attitude and remains calm even as the US showed extreme hostility," Jin said.

"The priority for China, the US and the rest of the world at this moment is to end the pandemic as soon as possible and so China will not launch a confrontational approach against the US even if the US is in a worsening situation."

Diao Daming, an associate professor at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times that if the White House prioritized the benefits of the American people and humanity, "it should listen to the good will and advise to stop its hostile moves. But this is not something that China can decide."

If the US refused to stop its wrongdoings, China would "uphold the bottom-line mentality and fight till the end, with no compromise on sovereignty, security, dignity and interests and rights for development," Diao said.

Market implications

A war of words between the US and China can only weigh on markets. AUD/JPY is in focus: Chart of The Week: AUD/JPY in a precarious position at daily support