China strongly condemns irresponsible remarks made by NATO Secretary General: spokesperson

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday said China strongly condemns the irresponsible and provocative remarks made by the NATO Secretary General against China, which are steeped in Cold War mentality and ideological bias, and consist of baseless accusations.

According to media reports, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on July 11 emphasized again at the closing press conference of the NATO Summit that China has become a decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine. He said that China's joint military exercise with Belarus fits into the pattern of working together in supporting Russia's war on Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said China is taking more assertive behaviors in Hong Kong and the South China Sea, and threatening Taiwan and threatening neighbors, adding that China is conducting a huge military build-up with no transparency and investing heavily in new modern missiles and nuclear weapons.

Lin said at a daily news briefing that the NATO Secretary General in his remarks attacked China's system, blatantly interfered in China's internal affairs, and distorted China's domestic and diplomatic policies. He sought to shift blames and mislead the international community on Ukraine and pointed fingers at China's normal military development and relations with relevant countries. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it, Lin said.

"China has already made its position clear on the Ukraine issue and the NATO Summit," Lin said, adding that for a long time, the NATO Secretary General, in disregard of the facts and China's protests, repeatedly smeared and hurled attacks at China. He has been playing up the "China threat" narrative and inciting suspicion about China and anti-China sentiments in an apparent attempt to cooperate with certain parties to suppress and contain China, said the spokesperson.

These clumsy stunts have sounded the alarm for many in the world and remind people what risks and challenges NATO, as a vestige of the Cold War and a product of bloc confrontation and bloc politics, will bring to world peace and stability, Lin said.

"China urges certain Western politician, whose political life is approaching an end, not to fan the flames, make provocations, and shift blames for the sake of trying to leave behind some kind of legacy," said Lin.

Lin added that China will stick to the path of peaceful development and inject more stability and positive energy into world peace and stability through its own development and international cooperation. China will also firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.

"To see China as NATO's imaginary enemy will only backfire on NATO itself," he added.