Beijing Says Blinken Speech 'smears China'

Beijing on Friday accused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of “smearing” China, after he delivered a speech calling for action to counterbalance Beijing's influence.

In the 45-minute address, Blinken said the US will not block China from growing its economy, but wants it to adhere to international rules, saying that Washington is "not looking for conflict or a new Cold War".

He said the US will defend international law and institutions that maintain peace and security, and make it possible for countries to coexist.

Blinken's speech "spreads false information, exaggerates the China threat, interferes in China's internal affairs, and smears China's domestic and foreign policies", Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference.

Wang added Beijing "firmly opposed" the speech, saying it showed Washington sought to "contain and suppress China's development and maintain US hegemony and power".

Earlier, Beijing's Washington embassy said China and the US shared "extensive common interests and profound cooperation potential", and "competition ... should not be used to define the overall picture of the China-US relations".

"China and the US both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation," embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said.

Blinken in his speech acknowledged a growing consensus that other nations cannot change the trajectory of China, saying that under President Xi Jinping, it has become "more repressive at home, more aggressive abroad".

"There is growing convergence about the need to approach relations with Beijing with more realism," he said.

He also reiterated his country's commitment to the one-China policy over Taiwan, even though US President Joe Biden earlier this week said the US would get involved militarily should China attack the island.

In a column in the SCMP on Friday, China's US ambassador said Washington has been "substantially upgrading its official relations with Taiwan".

Qin Gang said that while Washington pays lip service to cross-strait peace, it sells sophisticated weaponry to the island, emboldening separatists and adding fuel to the fire. (Agencies)

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