US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is really addicted to provoking and smearing China with his vicious lies.

On Nov. 15, when addressing Rice University, the Secretary of State peddled the obsolete memories of the Cold War, and said that the US is confronting a "complex challenge" from the Communist Party of China (CPC).

He called China a country “that’s stolen our stuff, taken intellectual property, forced companies that invested in China to transfer technology.”

For the past three weeks, Pompeo has been delivering such remarks which contain nothing but bald-faced lies. This exposed to the world his ill-looking mindset that is prejudiced, malicious, arrogant and maniac.

Pompeo, together with his likes, are making counter examples, from which the world can further recognize the evil of the Cold War and zero-sum mentalities.

As a matter of fact, such mentalities always instigate people to confront, separate from and even hate each other, and these are nothing but stinking garbage that should have been swept off by history.

Facts have proved that such mentalities are disruptive for international relations, as any intention that encourages confrontation and starts disputes is an obstacle for the peaceful development of the world.

Lies cannot become facts even repeated thousands of times. When the theories of the so-called "China threat" have been negated by facts, the makers of such theories are now pointing their guns toward the CPC and the Chinese government. However, it is just a "plan-B" that is destined to lose again.

Under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese nation has achieved a tremendous transformation since the founding of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago. It has stood up, grown rich, and is becoming strong.

Leadership by the CPC is the most essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it is chosen by both history and the people. Facts have proven that such choice is completely correct, and no one is able to stop the advance of the Chinese people and Chinese nation.

The Chinese people have firm confidence in their path, theory, system, and culture, and will march forward unswervingly along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and achieve continuous progress.

In front of the just choice and firm faith of the Chinese people, anyone or any voice that bears malicious intentions are just clowns that will neither cover the facts nor reverse the general trend.

China will never pursue development at the expense of others’ interests, and its development does not pose a threat to any other country. This has been well recognized by the international community.

For instance, 181 countries, regions and international organizations attended the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) where over 3,800 enterprises exhibited their products and over 500,000 professional buyers negotiated or made purchases. Tentative deals of $71.13 billion were reached for one-year purchases of goods and services, up 23 percent from a year ago.

Such fruitful results indicate that China’s “circle of friends” is expanding, and the country’s efforts to build an open world economy and a community with a shared future for mankind have won broad recognition and high reputation from the world.

Hence, the provocation by Pompeo to play China off against its global partners can never succeed.

China-US relations are not a zero-sum game. The two countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. The right way for them to get along is seeking common ground while putting aside differences with mutual respect. This concerns the interests of not only China and the US, but also the entire world at large. On such major issues of principle, both of the two countries shall avoid making historic mistakes due to short sight.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recently called the two sides to avoid confrontation and manage disputes in a public speech. He said that the two countries should seek and sense the opportunities that might change the situation.

Pompeo should abandon his ideological prejudices and the outdated Cold War mentality, stop the anti-China remarks, and do something that a US Secretary of State should do. He shall stop damaging the mutual trust between China and the US and stop poisoning the China-US relations.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)