Beijing's criticism of the US defence act comes a day after a phone call between President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. AFP/Nicolas Asfouri
AFP
ON THE WEB, 21 December 2019
Beijing Saturday slammed a new US defence act, which includes measures to strengthen Washington’s ties with Taiwan and support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protestors, saying it “blatantly interfered” in China’s internal affairs.
The tough-worded statement by China’s top lawmaking body comes a day after President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Donald Trump that US comments and actions regarding Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet were harming ties between the two economic giants.
Beijing and Washington have agreed to a temporary truce in their bruising trade war, with a phase-one deal that has rolled back tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.
But China has come under strong criticism in Congress, including from Trump’s Republican party, over its attempt to clamp down on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
There is also growing concern in Washington, among both Democrats and Republicans, over the mass repression of ethnic Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim minority in northwest China’s Xinjiang region.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) calls for a report on the treatment of minorities in Xinjiang and to improve military ties with Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
You Wenze, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), told state-run Xinhua news agency, that the bill “blatantly interfered” in China’s internal affairs.
The parts relating to Taiwan undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he said.
Trump signed the $738 billion bill into law on Friday. It also calls for support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protestors.
Washington’s attempts to interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs using so-called democracy and human rights would be in vain, You told Xinhua.
He expressed “resolute opposition” to the bill, the Xinhua report said.
The statement echoes the language used during a Xi-Trump phone call on Friday.
“China expresses serious concerns over the US side’s recent negative words and actions on issues related to China’s Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet,” Xi said during the call, according to Xinhua’s summary.
Xi “noted that the US behaviours have interfered in China’s internal affairs and harmed China’s interests, which is detrimental to the mutual trust and bilateral cooperation,” the state-controlled outlet said.
The Chinese communists have targeted the US ever since their birth in 1949. All their propaganda films in the 50s were about alleged “victory” over the American “paper tiger”! Now they are blaming America for targeting China? For a long long time, the US nurtured China as a counterweight against the Soviet Union until it fell apart in 1991.
During the Clinton Presidency, the MFN status was given to China in the hope that China will become more liberal if the Chinese become more affluent. This delusion has only recently been discredited after Xi came to power. The US finally realised that the CCP was in fact challenging US supremacy and has ambitions to dominate the world. It is only during the Trump Presidency that the US has made the effort to contain China.
Now, the US has embraced Taiwan as an ally in its goal and this is going to continue unabated. Taiwan is vital for US presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Its President Tsai Ing-win is well ahead of her rival KMT contender Han Kuo-Yu. The CCP is extremely worried that Tsai might win again on the 11 January election in Taiwan. It has been threatening the island nation by sending fighter jets and the aircraft carrier in the Taiwan straits. The more the CCP threatens and intimidates Taiwan, the more it drives Taiwan into the arms of the US, but the stupid CCP can’t see this and continues to threaten Taiwan.
By now the US and China are vying for supremacy. The US would never content itself to be number two. The fight between the two is a fight to death. Militarily, the US is much superior in technology, cyber, and fire power. Besides, the US army is battle-hardened with its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The PLA by comparison has no fighting experience and is corrupt, and they have no stomach to fight. The CCP is in a conundrum!