(Beijing) Chinese President Xi Jinping condemned during a parliamentary session in Beijing the “containment” and “repression” of his country by Westerners and in particular by the United States, according to state media.
The subjects of friction have multiplied in recent years, from the treatment of Uyghur Muslims to the imbalance of the trade balance, via Taiwan, domination in advanced technologies or accusations of espionage.
They resulted in Western and in particular American sanctions targeting China, to which Beijing responded.
“China’s external development environment has undergone rapid changes. The uncertain and unpredictable factors have greatly increased,” Xi Jinping said according to an account by China News News Agency released Monday evening.
“Western countries, led by the United States, have implemented a policy of containment, encirclement and repression against China, which has brought unprecedented challenges to our country’s development,” he said. he added.
The 69-year-old leader, who is about to obtain an unprecedented third presidential term in a few days, spoke to members of an advisory committee during the annual parliamentary session.
Xi Jinping also said that the past five years have been marked by a new set of obstacles, which threaten to slow down China’s economic rise.
China-US relations hit a particularly tense period last month, after a Chinese balloon was shot down by the US military, accused of spying on US military installations.
The case forced US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a visit to China that would have helped defuse sensitive issues such as China’s stance on the war in Ukraine, technology competition and the Taiwan issue.
China and the United States are in a fierce battle over semiconductor manufacturing as the Americans have lost their dominant position to the Asian giant.
In the name of a supposed threat to its national security, the United States has multiplied in recent months the sanctions against Chinese chipmakers, now hindered from sourcing American technologies.
The visits of Western parliamentarians, particularly Americans, to Taiwan, an island whose sovereignty Beijing claims and intends to attach to mainland China, has also contributed to straining relations.