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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China hits back at America’s ‘cold war mentality’ after Donald Trump brands it a competitor

Beijing responds to US president’s position with warning that increased confrontation between the two sides will serve no one’s interests

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Xi Jinping’s hopes that the two sides would seek to minimise conflict have been dealt a heavy blow by Donald Trump’s comments. Photo: AFP
Wendy Wuin Beijing

Beijing hit back at US President Donald Trump’s decision to name China as a competitor and called on the United States to give up its “cold war mentality”, saying it will lead to harm for both nations.

The comments by Trump were a sign that Beijing’s efforts to ensure China-US relations developed as they wished had failed, according to mainland diplomatic observers.

But they added that Beijing would be cautious against acting in a way that generated further strife between the two sides.

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Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that China had the right to decide its own development path.

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“Any country, or any report, which distorts the facts, or maliciously slanders will do so in vain,” Hua told reporters in Beijing. “No one should be under the illusion that China will swallow a bitter pill that affects its interests.

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