BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday urged the United States to treat China and China-U.S. relations in an objective and rational manner and make efforts to place bilateral ties back on the track of healthy and stable development.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks when asked to comment on U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent remarks that the goal of the United States and its allies is to make sure it has the capabilities and the operational plans to offer a credible deterrence against China or anyone else that might want to take on the United States.

Zhao said China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order.

"China's development means a growing force for world peace, and an opportunity rather than a challenge to the world," Zhao said at a daily press briefing.

The spokesperson said China is committed to safeguarding the international system, with the United Nations at its core, and the international order based on international law, instead of the order defined by individual countries to maintain their own hegemony.

In the era of globalization, forming cliques against specific countries based on ideology undermines the international order, Zhao said. "Such a practice is unpopular and there is no way out."

He urged the United States to view China and China-U.S. relations in a right mentality and in an objective and rational manner, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and work with China to focus on cooperation, manage differences, and bring bilateral ties back on the track of healthy and stable development.