CHINESE foreign minister Qin Gang rebuked the United States today for inflaming tensions over Taiwan as relations between the world’s biggest economic powers frayed further.

In his first news conference since taking office in December, Mr Qin also accused the US of undermining efforts for peace in Ukraine in order to extend the conflict for its own benefit.

Washington’s China policy has “entirely deviated from the rational and sound track,” Mr Qin told journalists.

He said Washington “means to contain and suppress China in all respects and get the two countries locked in a zero-sum game.”

Washington’s appeal for “guardrails” to avoid conflict in reality means it would like Beijing not to respond with words or actions when “slandered or attacked,” Mr Qin said. “That is just impossible.”

“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” he said.

“Such competition is a reckless gamble, with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity.”

This comes as the Financial Times reported today that US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has abandoned his planned visit to Taiwan.

Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, will instead meet Mr McCarthy in California in a bid to avoid increasing already high tensions with Beijing.

Mr McCarthy’s office declined to comment on the new arrangements.

Previous House speaker Nancy Pelosi prompted a rebuke from the Chinese and days of military exercises around the island when she visited Taiwan in August last year.

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is formally considered Chinese territory by both Beijing and Washington under the “one China policy,” but has governed itself since the communist revolution of 1949.

Beijing has also accused the West of “fanning the flames” by providing Ukraine with weapons in its war with Russia.

China says it has a neutral stance in the war which began with Russia’s invasion just over a year ago and has put forward a 12-point peace plan.  

However, the US has repeatedly accused China of considering the provision of weapons to Russia for use in the war.

Mr Qin said: “Efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined. There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve a certain geopolitical agenda.”

“Conflicts, sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem. What is needed is calmness, reason and dialogue,” he said.