After a senior US official suggested that, with its assertive behavior, China poses a threat to the rules-based international order, Beijing has blasted Washington’s long history of aggressive foreign policies, calling it to drop its coercive diplomacy.
In remarks made during a major NATO summit in Romania earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointed out that the US is concerned by China’s coercive policies and use of disinformation as well as by its rapid, opaque military build‑up, including its cooperation with Russia.
Blinken, however, insisted that Washington is open to constructive dialogue with China and is not seeking a new Cold War.
Along with other NATO leaders, he declared Beijing a systemic challenge to the NATO bloc and areas relevant to alliance security.
Previously in October, the Pentagon has sought more deterrence against a list of threats headed by China and Russia and unveiled a new collection of documents describing a comprehensive security policy for the US.
American officials frequently label China as Washington’s top competitor.
Asked to respond to those remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a Friday press briefing that Washington’s comments reflect the entrenched Cold War mentality and ideological bias and are not based on facts.
Zhao, in return, branded the US the origin and expert of coercive diplomacy, which ranges from the threat of force to political isolation, from economic sanction to technological blockade.
Observing that US military spending outpaces the next nine countries combined, he also shot back that it is the US, not China, that resorts to wanton use of force to stir up trouble across the world, undermining international and regional security and stability.
Underscoring Washington’s military operations in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya have led to innumerable humanitarian tragedies, Zhao pointed out that the US, which runs more than 800 overseas military bases, was not at war for only 16 years throughout its nearly 250 years of history.
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