Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued a rare public rebuke of the United States for embarking on a crusade to thwart China’s rise.
Although he has taken veiled digs at the U.S. in the past, Xi has generally refrained from calling out the U.S. by name, but as tensions with Washington, D.C., escalate, he opted to ratchet up his rhetoric as the National People’s Congress gathered, according to state media.
Read More:-4 Americans Kidnapped in Mexico Border City Were There Seeking Health Care
TRUMP: ‘I DOUBT’ THAT CHINA IS ‘MORE DANGEROUS’ THAN IRAN
“Western countries — led by the U.S. — have implemented all-round containment, encirclement, and suppression against us, bringing unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development,” Xi said, per state media.
His remarks about containment hearken back to the Cold War era in which the U.S. sought to stymie the Soviet Union and undercut its influence abroad under the domino theory. Xi has bristled at alleged Western containment of China in the past.
Also Read– America Planned to Strike Germany and Japan with 75,000 Reverse-Engineered Nazi Missiles
“Suppression and containment will only strengthen the will and boost the morale of the Chinese people,” he was quoted as saying at a November summit with President Joe Biden, according to the Wall Street Journal.
China has been dogged by a string of setbacks over recent months, such as a sputtering economy, unrest over its COVID-19 restrictions, and a recent flurry of U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors that have roiled its tech sector.
Also Read:- World’s oldest person, U.S.-born Spanish woman, turns 116
In the face of uproar over its COVID-19 policies, China began easing up late last year and has sought to get its economy back on track. Xi defended his handling of the pandemic and struck a somber tone about the challenges the country is facing.
“In the coming period of time, the risks and challenges that we face will only increase and intensify evermore,” Xi said, according to state media.
Also Read- Japan just found 7,000 islands it didn’t know it had
Xi locked down a norm-breaking third term last year, which is set to become official during the session of congress. At the start of the session, Chinese Communist Party officials unveiled a new budget featuring a considerable 7.2% increase in its defense budget and an “around 5%” economic growth objective for 2023.
Last week the House committee on China held its first public hearing, which underscored the bipartisan consensus in the U.S. that China is a growing threat.
