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US-China tensions: Xi Jinping tells Russia, Asian partners to oppose interference by ‘external forces’

  • Chinese president takes veiled swipe at United States in speech to regional security summit
  • He warns against rising ‘unilateralism’ and calls for member states to resist proliferation of ‘political viruses’

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President Xi Jinping addresses the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit via video link from Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Asian partners and Russia to oppose interference by “external forces”, taking a veiled swipe at the United States during an address to a regional security summit.
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Xi did not make direct mention of Washington in the speech, his first international comments since the US election a week ago, and delivered as officials in the Donald Trump administration step up pressure on Beijing.

“The world is entering a period of turbulence and transformation. The international community now faces a major test with choices to be made between multilateralism and unilateralism, openness and seclusion, cooperation and confrontation,” Xi said in remarks to state leaders during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) online summit on Tuesday.

Tensions between the US and China have risen during the Trump era, and Xi’s speech featured several Chinese foreign policy buzzwords that Beijing uses to hit out at Washington.
Xi Jinping joins other state leaders for the SCO virtual summit. Photo: Xinhua
Xi Jinping joins other state leaders for the SCO virtual summit. Photo: Xinhua
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Xi called on SCO member states – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – to “firmly oppose interference by external forces in the domestic affairs” of other members.

He also warned against rising “unilateralism” in the world, a word Beijing frequently uses to bash Washington for backing out of treaties like the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. And he called for the group to resist the proliferation of “political viruses”, a term China has used for Washington’s campaign to question Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
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