The newly appointed Chinese foreign minister has warned of inevitable “confrontation” if the U.S. continues to treat China as an enemy to be contained rather than as an equal partner. The remarks from Qin Gang, the former Chinese ambassador to Washington, were accompanied by a defence of Beijing’s increasingly close relationship with Vladimir Putin's Russia. “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,” Qin told a news conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature. Qin, echoing earlier comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping, said the U.S. regarded China as its main rival and greatest geopolitical challenge. “This is like the first button in a shirt being done up wrong and the result is that the U.S.-China policy has entirely deviated from the rational and sound track,” he said.