Anti-China stance at Munich Security Conference criticized

In spite of not reaching any consensus on "Westlessness", the theme of the 56th Munich Security Conference, or MSC, which closed on Sunday, participants at the event slammed the anti-China bias shown openly by officials from the United States.

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, devoted much of the second half of his 16-minute speech on Saturday to say that he thinks that other nations should fear China the most.

The theme was taken up later as his cabinet colleague, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi echoed the theme in their speeches, respectively.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova criticized the anti-Chinese rhetoric voiced at the conference in Germany.

"It's shocking, but at the same time sad when the conference focused on a China threat to the world community, showing reviving colonial approaches," said Zakharova during an interview with Russian 1 TV channel.

It was not right and not fair when "some officials" criticized China and its policies as the threat of the 21st century, the spokesperson said, adding the audiences were witnessing "the revival of new colonial approaches through the speeches delivered at the Munich conference".

"The West no longer thinks it shameful to reincarnate the spirit of colonialism by means of dividing people, nations and countries into those deserving sympathy and support," said Zakharova.

At an open forum at the Munich conference, Pelosi supported US President Donald Trump's assessment of the threat posed by US allies using Huawei equipment to build their 5G networks.

Pelosi's statement was dismissed by Fu Ying, vice-chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's 13th National People's Congress, with the latter emphasizing the technology is just a tool, rather than a threat.

Fu's comments drew applause from audience members at the conference, and was supported by Ian Bremmer, president of the think tank Eurasia Group.

Bremmer said that US officials had used most of their speeches to talk about the China threat. "However Donald Trump doesn't agree with that line. He is the one saying China is doing everything they can on the fight against coronavirus,"Bremmer noted.

Zakharova said China was currently countering an epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus pneumonia and doing its best to prevent its spread.

"Don't these people deserve to hear words of support for this huge country and, I would dare say, great nation from the leaders and heads of state at the Munich conference? Not a single word was uttered," she said.

The MSC was first held in 1963.And its original aim was to shore up commitments and help coordinate Western defense policies. It has since grown to involve representatives from around the world and serve as a platform for debates on global security issues.

At the conference, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for overcoming East-West differences and practicing multilateralism.

MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said that there were different views among partners from the European Union and the US, stressing that "if we don't listen to each other, we would have problems".