China claims that the U.S. tarnished it. In his State of the Union speech, President Joe Biden frequently discussed the competitiveness between the two nations.
China is “opposed to defining the entire China-U.S. relationship,” but it does not fear competing with the U.S. Mao Ning, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said during a regular briefing on Wednesday that the relationship was one of competitiveness.
Mao added, even at the cost of upsetting the global industrial and supply chain, “A responsible country does not practice defaming a country or restricting the country’s legitimate development rights under the pretext of competition.”
The U.S. should cooperate with China to “advance the return of bilateral ties to a track of sound and stable growth,” and she said that China would protect its interests.
Mao’s remarks were made in the context of heated disagreements over trade, Taiwan, human rights, and access to cutting-edge technologies.
In his speech on Tuesday night, Biden mentioned China and its leader, Xi Jinping, at least seven times, mainly concentrating on how the U.S. was getting more and more ready to compete with Beijing while still trying to avoid a fight.
President Xi has received a clear message from me that we prefer competition over war, Biden added.
“I won’t apologize for our investments to strengthen America, investing in American innovation and sectors that China’s government wants to dominate, as well as in industries that will shape the future, he said.
As long as doing so advances American interests and benefits the rest of the globe, Biden’s administration is “dedicated to working with China.”
He did, however, issue a dire warning, saying, “if China challenges our sovereignty, we will act to safeguard our country,” in a clear allusion to the Saturday shooting down of a rumored Chinese spy balloon that had flown over the whole United States.
China has vehemently denounced the U.S. action and threatened to take specific countermeasures, claiming the balloon was an unmanned civilian airship used for meteorological research.
As a result of the incident, the U.S. canceled Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China this week, which had raised expectations of halting the ongoing deterioration of ties between Beijing and Washington.
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