With unusually direct words, China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping accused the United States and the West of trying to slow down his country’s rise in the world.
On the fringes of the current annual session of the People’s Congress in Beijing, the president said, according to the state media on Tuesday, that the environment for China’s development had “changed dramatically” and that the imponderables had increased sharply. “Western countries in particular, led by the US, are pursuing all-out containment, encirclement and suppression of China, posing unprecedented severe challenges for China’s development.”
At the same time, China is facing multiple difficulties, said Xi Jinping, citing repeated Covid-19 outbreaks and increasing pressure on the second-largest economy as examples.
His open criticism contrasted with previous statements in which China’s leaders had mostly spoken vaguely of “certain countries” without directly naming the United States or the West. The comments came during discussions with delegates to the Consultative Conference, an advisory body of distinguished figures that meets in parallel with the People’s Congress.
