The US should not regard China as a strategic rival and stoke confrontation because of its economic progress and development, a senior Chinese official said on Friday. To use China's development as an excuse and take China as a strategic rival will only erode the mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries, and will eventually hurt own interests of the United States, Zhang Yesui, spokesperson of China’s Parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), told a media briefing here. The Biden administration, which treats China as a strategic competitor, has made it clear that the most effective way for America to out-compete a more assertive and authoritarian China over the long-term is to invest in its people, its economy and its democracy. Beijing is faced with a major political and trade onslaught from the US, European Union and their allies over a host of issues including human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. China is also riled by the US providing political support as well as supplying advanced weapons to Taiwan, which Beijing considers as part of it and vows to integrate with the mainland.
The NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) began their over week-long annual sessions here on Friday. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang attended the opening ceremony of the CPPCC. The NPC begins its proceedings on Saturday. Answering a question about the deteriorating China-US ties, Zhang said the practices of drawing lines based on ideology, forming exclusive circles and stoking confrontation between blocs all go against the trend of the times and will lead to nowhere. Stable ties between China and the United States are good for the development of both sides, and conducive to maintaining international peace and effectively responding to climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges, Zhang said. He also lashed out at Lithuania for permitting 'Taiwanese Representative Office', which, he said, went against its commitment to one-China policy. The one-China principle is the political foundation for China to develop bilateral relations with all countries, Zhang said. He also defended China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, saying that it is a defensive measure to counter "containment and oppression". Noting that it is a common practice in many countries to respond to foreign sanctions, interference and long-arm jurisdiction through legislation, Zhang said that the law is a special one with "countering" being an outstanding feature.
China has been invoking the law to impose counter-sanctions against the US. "China does not seek to provoke trouble, nor will it cringe should any trouble come its way," he said.
PTI Inputs
