The Chinese Foreign Ministry has called on the United States to abandon its fixation on maintaining supremacy and containing China, urging a shift toward promoting regional peace and cooperation. Spokesperson Lin Jian made these remarks during a daily press briefing on Monday, addressing concerns following statements made by U.S. President Joe Biden at the recent Quad summit in the U.S.
At the summit, President Biden claimed that China continues to act aggressively and is testing the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region. In response, Lin Jian criticized the U.S. for using regional countries as tools in its strategy to perpetuate hegemony and contain China’s development.
“The Quad is seen as a premier regional grouping playing a leading role in the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy,” Lin noted. “It is a tool the U.S. uses to contain China and perpetuate its hegemony.”
Lin emphasized that the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy aims to amass forces to exclude and contain China by promoting the “China threat” narrative. He added that the Quad seeks to muster military and security cooperation under the pretext of maritime issues, sharing the same intentions and tactics.
“Though the U.S. claims it does not target China, the first topic of the summit was China-related, and China was made an issue throughout the event,” Lin said. “The U.S. is ‘lying through its teeth,’ and even the U.S. media does not believe these lies.”
Calling for genuine cooperation, Lin stated, “China believes that cooperation between countries should not target any third party or harm their interests. Any regional initiative should follow the overwhelming trend of the region and promote regional peace, stability, and prosperity.”
He stressed that forming exclusive groupings undermines mutual trust and cooperation between regional countries. “Ganging up runs counter to the overwhelming trend of pursuing peace, development, cooperation, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. It is bound to fail,” he asserted.
Lin urged the U.S. to cease its obsession with perpetuating supremacy and containing China. “The U.S. should stop using regional countries as tools, stop glossing over the strategic intentions behind all kinds of exclusive groupings, and act on its claim that the revitalization of its alliances is not aimed at China,” he said. “Instead of seeking selfish gains at the expense of other countries’ strategic security interests and the well-being of the people in the Asia-Pacific.”
Reference(s):
Foreign Ministry: U.S. needs to end obsession with containing China
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