China’s Xi Jinping takes rare direct aim at US in speech

China’s leader has blamed Washington-led ‘containment, encirclement and suppression’ for the deepening challenges he is facing at home.

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing. Picture: Getty Images

In rare direct criticism of Washington, Chinese leader Xi Jinping blamed what he termed a US-led campaign to contain China for worsening the troubles and global uncertainties that his country has faced over the past five years.

“Western countries — led by the US — have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development,” Mr Xi was quoted by state media as saying on Monday.

Mr Xi’s comments marked an unusual departure for a leader who has generally refrained from directly criticising the US in public remarks.

He was speaking at a meeting with members of China’s top political advisory body during an annual legislative session in Beijing, according to a Chinese-language readout published by the official Xinhua News Agency.

While Mr Xi has mentioned the US in critical tones during internal speeches, such remarks have often filtered out through subordinates relaying his messages for broader audiences, within the party and beyond. In statements made in public settings or directly reported by state media, Mr Xi has typically been more measured and vague when describing China’s relationship with the US and other Western countries, referring to them as “certain” countries rather than naming them explicitly.

Delegates applaud as Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of the National People's Congress. Picture: AFP

Now by directly accusing the US of seeking containment, a term loaded with Cold War meaning, Mr Xi appears to be associating himself more closely with nationalist rhetoric — widely used by lower-ranking officials and state media — that attacks Washington, at a time when bilateral tensions continue to simmer over trade, technology, geopolitical influence, and discordant views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The accusations against the US, delivered to an audience that includes politically connected businesspeople, appeared in part to be an effort by Mr Xi to shift blame away from his own policymaking, including tough Covid controls that have weakened the economy and pressure on technology companies that cost the industry some of its dynamism.

At Monday’s meeting, which included representatives from China’s state-backed national chamber of commerce, Mr Xi sought to boost confidence within the private sector — a key driver of growth and supplier of jobs in the world’s second-largest economy, but also a community shaken by regulatory crackdowns and harsh pandemic lockdowns in recent years.

The Chinese leader insisted that the Communist Party “has always regarded private enterprises and private entrepreneurs as our own people, ” and would provide them with support whenever they run into difficulties, Xinhua said.

J-10 fighter jets at an air show in Changchun, Jilin Province. Picture: Getty Images

At the same time, Mr Xi urged business people to strive for wealth with a sense of responsibility, righteousness and compassion, and to bear in mind his push for “common prosperity” — aimed at redistributing more of China’s wealth, amid concerns that the elite classes had benefited disproportionately from the country’s economic boom.

According to Xinhua, Mr Xi also defended his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and addressed the growing tensions between China and the West. He also urged the business community to work together with the party to overcome difficulties in an uncertain global environment.

“In the coming period of time, the risks and challenges that we face will only increase and intensify ever more,” Mr Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Mr Xi appeared to make a similar point in his November summit with President Biden, according to China’s official summary of the meeting, which quoted the Chinese leader as saying, “Suppression and containment will only strengthen the will and boost the morale of the Chinese people.”

China’s foreign-policy establishment had already been using the words “suppression and containment” to describe pressure from the US, including Mr Xi’s new top international envoy Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

Official spokespeople for China’s Foreign Ministry, who speak to foreign reporters at regular briefings, often in strident tones, have also used the terminology.

In December, Mr Wang told American banker and co-chair of Asia Society John Thornton, “It is imperative that the US abandon its unreasonable acts of containment and suppression of China, earnestly put President Biden’s positive remarks into action, and return to the more positive and practical China policy,” according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry summary of the meeting.

Mr Xi didn’t name the US while warning of threats to his country at a Communist Party congress in October, when he said: “External attempts to suppress and contain China may escalate at any time.”

The Wall Street Journal