China Marks New Year with Victory Speech and Warning for US On 12/31/20 at 5:06 PM EST Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech ripe with his country's successes over the past year, one wrought with global hardships, the greatest of which was first detected in his country—the COVID-19 pandemic. Ties between top world powers China and the U.S. had been deteriorating for some time, and the international crisis only served to exacerbate them. As the Chinese leader spoke of hope for the new year, his officials issued a stark warning in response to the U.S. military posing a year-end challenge in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.