“European politicians have expressed the importance of China’s position and role in the world, and agree with China’s policy choices and development direction,” Wang said.
“[They] hoped to fully restart the institutional dialogue and exchanges with China in various fields as soon as possible, and open up new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Ahead of the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, Wang made stops in France, Italy, Hungary and Russia, while also speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany last weekend.
It was Wang’s first visit to the region since being appointed as China’s highest ranked diplomat, a move observers said was aimed at repairing China’s ties with European nations amid rising tensions with the US.
Wang said he expressed his criticism of Washington’s handling of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon incident, when he spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich conference.
It was the first in-person meeting of the two sides since the alleged spy aircraft entered US airspace in late January, and was later shot down by the US Air Force.
He said that the US had “sensationalised the incident and abused its force to discredit China”, thereby revealing Washington’s irrationality instead of its strength.
“The history books in the future will show this is a farce made by the US … I made it clear that the US should not do such absurd things out of domestic political needs,” Wang said.
02:34
Chinese balloon row: Joe Biden says US-China relations have not taken a big hit
“The US should show sincerity, face up to and resolve the damage caused to China-US ties. If the US insists on taking advantage of the issue and worsening the situation, China will follow through to the end.”
Wang’s tour also included a stop in Moscow and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
As two of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, Wang said China and Russia agreed that they should promote polarisation and “oppose unilateral bullying”, in view of the changing global landscape.
“Sino-Russian cooperation is never targeted at, nor influenced by, third parties, and has independent values and its own practices,” Wang said.
Wang added that the current global turmoil was because the UN Charter had not been “truly observed”. No country should do as it deems fit or hold double standards, and hegemony should unanimously be resisted by all nations, he said.
