China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has stated that the country is not afraid of a confrontation with the US, but rather embraces collaboration if it is mutually beneficial.

Wang said there was “no harm” in competition between the two countries, but it should be “positive” in a speech uploaded on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Monday. 

He attributed the current challenges in the US-China relationship to “strategic misjudgments” on the part of the US. 

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Last month, US President Joe Biden challenged his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on human rights during a three-hour phone discussion. 

During their virtual meeting, Xi warned that China would retaliate if Taiwan was provoked in any way. 

When it came to Taiwan, Wang confirmed Beijing’s desire to seize control of the island.

Taiwan, he said, was a “wanderer” who will eventually return home, and he warned that it should not be treated like a chess piece. 

Taiwan, which is democratically governed, is claimed by China as its own territory. 

Beijing has increased military and diplomatic pressure on Taipei in the last two years to enforce its sovereignty claims, enraging Taipei and raising serious worries in Washington. 

Wang, who is also a state councillor in addition to his post as Foreign Minister, said the current tensions are the result of the Taiwan government’s efforts to “rely on the United States for independence”.  

He went on to say that the US and other countries were attempting to “use Taiwan to control China”.

“It is these perverse actions that have changed the status quo and undermined the peace in the Taiwan Strait,” said Mr Wang, who is a former head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.

“[It is] violating the consensus of the international community and the basic norms of international relations.”

China had responded by taking “forceful countermeasures” to “shock the arrogance” of those seeking formal independence for Taiwan, he said. 

Wang stated, “China must and will be reunified.” 

Despite the lack of official diplomatic connections, China has been particularly enraged by the United States’ support for Taiwan, the island’s most important international patron and arms supplier. 

Taipei has consistently slammed China’s coercion, claiming that only the people of Taiwan have the right to decide their own fate and that they will not be intimidated. 

After losing a civil war with the Communists, the defeated Republic of China government retreated to Taiwan in 1949, establishing the People’s Republic of China.