March 7 (UPI) -- China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the United States is taking a "two-faced" approach to relations between the nations but seeks a "peaceful coexistience."
The declaration was made Friday during a press conference on the sideline of the National People's Congress in Beijing in response to a question from a CNN reporter when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policy and his decision to double additional tariffs on imports from China to the U.S.
"No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain good relations with China at the same time," Yi answered, "such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations, or for building mutual trust."
Yi then went on to reference the tariffs levied against China by the Trump administration, saying his country has been assisting the U.S. on humanitarian grounds "in various ways," and that the U.S. "should not return good with evil, or even impose arbitrary tariffs. No responsible major country should do that."
The U.S. put a 10% tariff on Chinese imports last month, which was then doubled to 20% Tuesday. Trump has said this happened in part because Beijing hasn't done enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Yi said the "abuse of fentanyl" in the U.S. "is a problem that must be confronted and resolved by the United States itself."
In a press release from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the press conference, Yi said Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump during a phone call earlier this year that "confrontation and conflict should not be an option," and that "it is fully possible for China and the United States to become partners helping each other succeed and prosper together."
Yi further expressed that his country is committed to "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," and China hopes "the U.S. side will listen to the calls of the two peoples, see clearly the trend of the times, take an objective and rational view of China's development, engage proactively with China in practical exchanges, and work together with China to pursue the right way of getting along with each other to the benefit of the two countries and the whole world."