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Chinese President Xi Jinping told a parliamentary session in Beijing that his country is being “encircled” and “repressed” by the West, especially the United States, according to state media.
The issues of friction have multiplied in recent years, from the treatment of Uyghur Muslims to the imbalance in the trade balance, passing through Taiwan, its dominance in high technology or accusations of espionage. They have led to Western, and particularly American, sanctions against China, to which Beijing has responded.
“The external environment for China’s development has changed rapidly. Uncertain and unpredictable factors have increased sharply,” Xi Jinping told the China News Agency on Monday evening, March 6. “Western countries led by the United States have launched a policy of containment, encirclement and repression against China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to our country’s development,” Xi was quoted as saying by the news agency on Monday night. Xinhua State.
The 69-year-old leader, who is seeking an unprecedented third presidential term in days, addressed members of an advisory committee during the annual parliamentary session. Xi Jinping said that a new set of obstacles have been encountered in the past five years that threaten to slow down China’s economic growth.
rising tension
Sino-US relations were particularly tense last month after the shooting down of a Chinese hot air balloon by the US military, accused of spying on US military installations. The affair forced US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a visit to China that would have discussed sensitive issues such as China’s position on the war in Ukraine, technological competition and the Taiwan question.
China and the United States are waging a bitter battle for the manufacture of semiconductors, in which the North Americans have lost their dominant position in favor of the Asian giant. In the name of an alleged threat to its national security, the United States has in recent months stepped up sanctions against Chinese chipmakers, which are now hampered in their supply of American technology.
Visits by Western parliamentarians, especially Americans, to Taiwan, an island that Beijing claims as its own and intends to annex to mainland China, have also contributed to straining relations.