A Cold War mindset is thriving in Beijing

China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang has come out growling, using his first media appearance to accuse the US of ‘all-out containment and suppression’. He said his country’s friendship with Russia was a beacon of strength and stability which ‘set an example for foreign relations’ and asked: ‘Why should the US demand that China refrain from supplying arms to Russia when it sells arms to Taiwan?’ He said that China and the US were heading for inevitable conflict if Washington does not mend its ways.

It was a fiery performance, even by the standards of Beijing’s ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats. The tirade took place on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC). America will not stop ‘the rejuvenation of China’, warned Qin, who was appointed foreign minister in December, replacing the more low-key Wang Yi. At 56, Qin is one of youngest people to hold the post.