China, US stand to gain from cooperation, lose from confrontation, reminds Zhao Lijian
– asks US to stop making waves in South China Sea
BEIJING – A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday urged the United States “not to make an issue out of China in its election.”
“We have no comment on the U.S. presidential election, which is an internal affair. At the same time, we urge the U.S. not to make an issue out of China in its election,” Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference held here. Zhao said China’s policy toward the United States is consistent and clear.
“We believe both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. We are committed to develop a bilateral relationship featuring no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” he said. “At the same time, we are firmly determined to defend national sovereignty, security and development interests.”
Zhao urged the U.S. to look at China and bilateral relations in an objective and rational light, work with China toward the same goal, manage differences, promote cooperation and bring China-U.S. relations back onto the right track of coordination, cooperation and stability.
As to the so-called “relocation of production capacity,” Zhao said that it is political manipulation that puts partisan and personal interests above U.S. national interests.
“It’s neither viable nor realistic. In the globalized era, the perverse practice of going against the voluntary will of the vast business community, forcibly scrapping existing cooperation between countries, and coercing companies with regard to their normal investment and operation runs counter to the law of market economy and will eventually lead to self-harm,” he said.
Such unpopular moves have been and will continue to be rejected and resisted by visionary people in China and the United States, he added.
Zhao asks US to stop making waves in South China Sea
FM Spokesman Zhao Lijian said the United States should stop making waves and sowing discord in the South China Sea and play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.
He was responding to a question about U.S. Department of Defense claims made on Thursday that China launched a ballistic missile test in the South China Sea on the morning of Aug. 26, threatening regional peace and security.
Relevant training activities near the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea are routine arrangements conducted by the Chinese military off China’s coast. They are not targeted at any country and have nothing to do with the South China Sea disputes, said Zhao.
“The relevant accusations are groundless and unjustified,” he said.
Zhao said that, over a period of time, the United States has frequently dispatched in large numbers advanced warships, fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft all the way to the South China Sea to project its power and engage in military provocations, undermining China’s sovereignty and security interests as well as the normal order of navigation in the South China Sea.
The United States has become the saboteur and troublemaker of peace and stability in the South China Sea, and the international community bears witness to these all, Zhao concluded.
