Stop framing China as a threat, Beijing tells US

ISTANBUL

China on Wednesday urged the US to “stop framing China as a threat based on disinformation” while calling for an end to what Beijing calls “Cold War mentality.”

“We call on relevant US institutions and individuals to abandon their ideological bias and zero-sum Cold War mentality, develop an objective and rational perception of China and US-China relations,” Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Beijing.

Beijing’s comments came in response to a new bipartisan US Congress committee on China framing the rivalry between Washington and Beijing as “an existential struggle.”

“Stop framing China as a threat based on disinformation, stop denigrating the Communist Party of China (CCP), and stop trying to score political points at the expense of US-China relations,” the Foreign Ministry told Washington, adding China views and grows its relations with the US in “accordance with the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.”

“In the meantime, we remain committed to defending China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests,” a transcript of the news conference released by the ministry read.

The US Congress has launched the committee, known as the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the US and the CCP, which held its first hearing on Tuesday.

“This is not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century — and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake,” Mike Gallagher, the committee’s Republican chairman, said at the opening of the hearing.

With 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats, the committee enjoys strong support across the political divide with 365 votes.