BEIJING — The United States is “the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development,” China said on Thursday, continuing its sharp rhetoric in response to US accusations of Chinese espionage and threats to the international order.
The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian came a day after the head of the FBI and the head of Britain’s intelligence agency raised fresh alarms about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology to gain a competitive advantage.
The heightened tone comes ahead of a meeting on Saturday between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Group of Nations summit of ministers of major rich and developing countries. 20 in Bali, Indonesia.
“The relevant US politician has been playing on China’s so-called threat to defame and attack China,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing when asked about the FBI director’s comments , Christopher Wray, which reaffirmed longstanding concerns by denouncing China’s economic espionage and hacking operations as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to stifle dissent abroad.
“Facts have fully shown that the US is the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development,” Zhao said. “We urge this US official to have the right perspective, view China’s developments objectively and reasonably, and stop spreading lies and stop making irresponsible comments.”
Wray’s speech was particularly notable because it took place at MI5 headquarters in London and alongside the agency’s director-general, Ken McCallum, in a show of Western solidarity.
“We see consistently that it is the Chinese government that poses the greatest long-term threat to our economic and national security, and by ‘our’ I mean our nations, along with our allies in Europe and elsewhere,” he said. Wray told the audience. .
McCallum said the Chinese government and its “covert pressure around the world” is “the single most game-changing challenge we face.”
Under Xi Jinping, president and head of the ruling Communist Party, China has taken on an increasingly aggressive foreign policy, teaming up with Russia to try to undermine the influence of the US and its allies.
Beijing has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is expected to dominate a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers, while condemning Western sanctions against Moscow and accusing Washington and NATO of cause the conflict.
At the same time, the party wields sweeping powers over all Chinese companies and institutions, both public and private, as it seeks to dominate global markets and emerging technologies.
The Chinese government and its “covert pressure around the world” is “the single most game-changing challenge we face,” McCallum said in his remarks on Wednesday.
In his response, Zhao said that British intelligence was “simply projecting its own dishonorable behavior onto China.”
“The head of British intelligence should put (his) evil out of his mind, come out of the dark room and see the light of the sun, and not always cling to zero-sum thinking or create so-called imaginary enemies”. he said
Zhao on Wednesday criticized Blinken’s comments at last week’s NATO summit in Spain, in which the state secretary accused China of “seeking to undermine the rules-based international order.”
