China flexes its muscles in Munich

Posted By Andrew Swift Friday, February 5, 2010 - 5:15 PM Share

China wasted no time in heating up the 46th Munich Security Conference. In the opening address Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi strongly asserted Chinese policy, and took more than a few swipes at the United States.

Yang is the first Chinese official to speak at the annual conference, and he seemed to have turned the normally stoic affair into something much more direct and confrontational. His remarks are yet another indication of the growing differences between China and the United States.

Addressing a recent U.S. arms sale to Taiwan which he called a violation "of the international code of conduct, Yang said:

The Chinese government and people feel indignant about this... We have one fifth of mankind. At least we deserve a chance to express our views on how things should be run in the world.

Yang further intimated China would block new UN sanctions directed against Iran, claimed that Chinese media was more reliable and "solid" than Western news organizations and that he didn't know how "this Google thing popped up."

JOERG KOCH/AFP/Getty Images

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