China would not fear confrontation with U.S. – foreign minister

China would not fear confrontation with the United States but would welcome cooperation if it is mutually beneficial, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.

Problems in the U.S.-China relationship were down to “strategic misjudgments” by the American side, he said in a speech, posted on foreign ministry website.

“If there is confrontation, then (China) will not fear it, and will fight to the finish,” he said.

Wang said “there is no harm” in competition but it should be “positive”.

Relations between the United States and China are at a low over a range of disagreements including the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade, human rights, and Beijing’s increasing pressure on Taiwan.

In a call last month that lasted for more than three hours, U.S. President Joe Biden pressed his counterpart, Xi Jinping, on human rights while Xi warned that China would respond to what it called provocation on Taiwan.

The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Thursday to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concern about forced labour, the latest U.S. response to Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority there. 

China rejects accusations of rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel