Xi says China will not let security, sovereignty interests be undermined

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China will never allow its sovereignty, security and development interests to be undermined, adding that the Chinese people are not to be trifled with.

Any act of unilateralism, monopolism and bullying would not work, and would only lead to a dead end, Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“Let the world know that ‘the people of China are now organised, and are not to be trifled with,” Xi said, quoting Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China.

Xi was speaking on the 70th anniversary of the deployment of Chinese troops to the Korean peninsula to help North Korea fight U.S.-led United Nations and South Korean forces during the 1950-53 war.

Xi did not directly refer to the present-day United States, whose ties with China have sunk to their lowest in decades amid disputes with the government of President Donald Trump.

The world’s two biggest economies have clashed over issues ranging from trade, technological and security rivalry to human rights and the coronavirus.

Xi also called for moves to expedite the modernisation of the country’s defence and armed forces.

“Without a strong army, there can be no strong motherland,” he said.