By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A United Nations Security Council meeting in two weeks could be a “very good opportunity” for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet, China’s U.N. envoy said on Monday, stressing the need for cooperation because “so much is at stake,” while blasting Washington on tariffs.
China is president of the Security Council for February and China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said Wang would chair a ministerial meeting of the 15-member body on Feb. 18 that would focus on multilateralism and improving global governance.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Rubio would attend the meeting. Rubio and Wang have spoken on the phone.
“I do hope that despite all the rhetoric that we have heard from the American politicians, we can take a constructive and – I will emphasize – a professional approach to our work here in the United Nations,” Fu told reporters. “So much is at stake.”
However, he did not hold back on U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 10% tariffs on China from Tuesday.
“We are firmly opposed to this unwarranted increase and we do believe that this is in violation of the WTO (World Trade Organization) rules. So that’s why China is filing a complaint at this WTO.” Fu said.
“We may be forced to take counter measures …. there is no winner in a trade war,” he said.
Trump wants Beijing to do more to stop trafficking of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl into the U.S. Fu said Washington should “look at the demand side of the fentanyl rather than shifting the blames onto others.”
He also accused the U.S. and other Western countries of a “totally groundless” smear campaign over Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative after Panama decided to let its participation in China’s global infrastructure plan expire.
Fu said China and the U.S. could cooperate on combating climate change, drugs and terrorism and work together on technology like AI. He said fragmentation on AI would enhance risk and reduce benefits.
When asked about U.S. concerns with some Chinese technology and apps, Fu said the “knee jerk reactions need to stop,” adding: “Look at the Huawei. Look at Tiktok, now the DeepSeek. How many more do you want to ban?”
“If China and the U.S. can work together jointly, I’m sure we will be able to solve many problems and make the world a better place to live,” he said.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Costas Pitas and Alistair Bell)