A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman traced the US recent indictment of the Taiwan-born scientist at Los Alamos, Wen Ho Lee, to the influence of cold war mentality, at a regular news conference in Beijing Tuesday.

Commenting on the indictment of Lee on December 10 by relevant US departments, spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said that there are certain people in the United States who stubbornly stick to the 'cold war' mentality, and purposefully concocted the so-called lie alleging China's theft of US nuclear technologies.

"They attempt to defame China and impair Sino-US relations," she said, adding that "it has been proved with facts that their conspiracy will not work."