Beijing has expressed its protest over Washington adopting 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes some ‘negative’ content on China, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
“The Chinese side has repeatedly expressed its stance on this issue and made representations to the US side. We express our strong dissatisfaction with the fact that the United States, disregarding China’s protest, adopted and signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains negative language regarding China,” the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Lu Kang, said.
The ministry urged Washington to get rid of thinking rooted in cold war context and of zero-sun game ideas.
“We urge the US side to be objective regarding China and the Chinese-US relations, to strictly adhere to the principle of one China and three US-Chinese joint statements, to avoid implementing the negative provisions of the bill so as not to harm the Chinese-US relations as well as bilateral cooperation in the most important fields,” the statement read.
The NDAA strengthens the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews proposals to determine if they threaten national security. That measure was seen as targeting China, Reuters reported.
Moreover, the bill sets “long-term strategic competition with China” as the United States’ “principal priority.” It proceeds to call for evaluation of propaganda, economic tools, hacking and “defense installations,” allegedly used by China against the United States.
“The US side should objectively and fairly treat Chinese investors, and avoid CFIUS becoming an obstacle to investment cooperation between Chinese and US firms,” Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement as quoted by Reuters.
The new US defense bill signed into law by US President Donald Trump on Monday also contains a section on cooperation with Taiwan. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and refuses to support diplomatic relations with any country that officially recognizes Taiwan.
China’s protest against the new US defense bill comes as the world’s major economies engage in “trade war”, imposing tariffs on each other’s goods.
The US-China trade dispute started after Washington imposed steep steel and aluminum tariffs and banned exports to Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.
Last week, the US has finalized new tariffs on $16 billion worth of products imported from China, the Office of the US Trade Representative said.
China responded earlier to a proposed tariff increase from 10 to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese products with a threat to impose duties of up to 25 percent on US imports worth $60 billion.
The Chinese Finance Ministry accused earlier the US actions of “disrupting the global supply chain and free trade system” and causing “serious damage” to the interests of China and its citizens, adding that such actions could also have negative impact on global economic growth.