Chinese MFA Spokesman Zhao Lijian: If Anybody Is Undermining International Order, It Is America; Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, NATO Expansions Are Examples

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Zhao Lijian said in an April 22, 2022 statement that was posted on the YouTube channel of the state-run CGTN outlet that if there is any country that is trying to destroy the existing international order, it is the United States. He said that the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, the invasions of Iraq and Syria, the eastward "expansion" of NATO despite Russia's national security concerns, and the fueling of the Ukraine-Russia crisis are examples of America's disregard for the international system.

Zhao Lijian:"If any country is trying to challenge or destroy the existing international rules and the international system, that is the U.S. itself. When the U.S. brazenly bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and invaded Iraq and Syria without the UN Security Council's Mandate, was it playing by international rules? When the U.S. pushed for five waves of the eastward expansion of NATO in disregard of Russia's security concerns, which resulted in the escalation of regional tensions, was it upholding the international system? When the U.S. denigrated peace talks and fueled tensions in every way possible after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, was it abiding by international rules? When the U.S. escalated unilateral sanctions regardless of the sluggish world economic recovery and pushed Europe and the world deeper into the crisis, was it upholding the international system?"