No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” warned China’s foreign minister.

China’s top diplomat didn’t name the United States directly when warning against the return of the “law of the jungle” at a news conference in Beijing, but his meaning was crystal clear.

He noted that in a changing and turbulent world, certainty is “becoming a scarce resource”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The remarks by China’s top diplomat on Friday (Mar 7) come as the United States under Donald Trump trots out expansionist rhetoric.

China - which portrays itself as a stabilising force - could seize the opportunity to play a bigger role in global governance amid the "chaos" brought by the Donald Trump administration, according to analysts.

Faced with a renewed US trade war, economic headwinds and growing geopolitical pressures, China is actively seeking closer ties with the Global South, a strategy the country's top diplomat has described as "seeking strength through unity".

China's foreign minister said on Friday the country will "resolutely counter" pressure from the United States on the fentanyl issue, adding that major powers "should not bully the weak," in a veiled swipe at Washington.

In one of the first answers of the press conference, Wang said China-Russia relations are a "constant in a turbulent world, not a variable in geopolitical games"