China Says U.S. Has Lost Global Credibility, Urges Russia Alignment

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday accused the U.S. of sowing "serious doubt" in its own global credibility, and claimed closer Beijing-Moscow cooperation would create an unshakeable front against foreign "hegemonism."

In an interview with the state-owned Xinhua news agency and CCTV, the foreign minister said U.S. behavior on issues including Taiwanese independence was undermining bilateral ties and damaging Washington's reputation.

"The U.S. continues to stir up trouble on issues concerning China's sovereignty, security and development interests, causing harm and damage to bilateral relations," Wang said, according to a transcript posted on the website of China's embassy in Washington, D.C.

"This is a typical case of saying one thing yet doing another. This has left U.S. credibility in serious doubt," Wang added.

"The U.S. often claims itself to be a society built on trust," the foreign minister said. "If the U.S. side hopes to preserve a level of credibility for itself in the world, it should match its commitments with real, concrete actions to earn trust from the Chinese people and from the international community."

"As long as the U.S. gives up its obsession with ideological confrontation, the two systems and paths adopted by China and the U.S. could work in parallel and coexist peacefully on this planet," Wang said.

The foreign minister also suggested that Beijing has made clear the costs of continued, or even intensified, conflict.

"Since China is determined to defend its rights and reject hegemonism, the U.S. side has come to realize that China will by no means make any concession under the threat of maximum pressure, and that such practices will ultimately hurt U.S. interests," he said.

This American "hegemonism," Wang said, is also a threat to Russia. The Chinese diplomat called on Moscow to deepen cooperation and blunt U.S. overreach.

"China and Russia are both major countries with global influence," Wang said. "Their strategic coordination and practical cooperation has a global significance and plays an irreplaceable role."

Sino-Russian ties—historically marked by distrust and even conflict—have been growing stronger in recent years. Chinese and Russian ships, aircraft and troops have conducted joint military drills, and in November signed a deal to deepen military ties.

Russia remains China's biggest arms supplier, as well as its second-most profitable oil export customer. Russian natural gas flows the other way, while Chinese money has become increasingly important in Russian energy and infrastructure projects. The two share a 2,672 mile border and therefore domestic security interests.

Aligned on Major Issues

Beijing and Moscow are also currently aligned on major international issues like Iran, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea, and the leaders of both have an interest in seeing autocracy prevail over Western liberal democracy. Both recently coordinated their attacks on President Joe Biden's Democracy Summit.

Still, closer cooperation doesn't mean an imminent anti-Western alliance. The two nations are deeply attached to strategic autonomy, and have competing flagship projects.

Russia's grand plans for its Eurasian Economic Union, for example, clash with Beijing's mammoth transcontinental Belt and Road Initiative. Putin has tried to win more Russian influence over the BRI and perhaps even integrate it into the EEU. But Moscow and Beijing both know that only the latter has the wealth needed to make the dream a reality.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov failed to appear at a June 2020 BRI summit, with an ambassador going in his place, an incident some observers interpreted as a pointed signal of Russian discontent.

Certain Russia-China bilateral security grievances also echo those of the Western world. In Russia, for example, security services have been resistant to Chinese technology and have faced Chinese espionage.

Wang on Thursday urged even deeper cooperation between the two nations.

"We are convinced that as long as China and Russia, as two major countries, stand together shoulder to shoulder and deepen coordination hand in hand, the international order will not fall into disarray, justice in the world will not collapse, and hegemonism will not win," he said.