US Shouldn't Treat China As A Rival: NPC Spokesman

A spokesman for the National People’s Congress (NPC) said on Friday that the US will only harm its own interests if it uses China’s development “as an excuse” to treat it like a strategic rival.

Zhang Yesui made the remarks a day ahead of the opening of the NPC’s plenary session at a press conference in Beijing, where he was asked whether China is prepared to pass similar laws to the US’ Competes Acts aimed at improving its technological competitiveness.

He was also asked how the American law will affect Sino-US relations.

"How the United States chooses to raise its competitiveness – including the research and development and manufacturing capacity of chips – is its own matter," he said via a video link.

"But to use China's development as an excuse and take China as a strategic rival, this will only erode the mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries, and will eventually hurt the US' own interests."

Zhang added that drawing lines based on ideologies, forming small circles and encouraging conflicts between blocs are "acts against the trend of the times" that will lead to nowhere.

He stressed that it's the aspiration of the international community that the two countries achieve a win-win cooperation, which, he said, also serve the fundamental interests of Sino-US relations.

Zhang reiterated that the key to peaceful co-existence is mutual respect for each other’s political systems and development paths, as well as non-interference with each other's internal affairs.

The NPC annual plenary session will begin on Saturday and will end on 11 March.

Besides vetting the central government's work report and budget, it will also decide the election methods for returning Hong Kong and Macau delegates to the 14th term of the national legislature.