China US Photo: GT
US officials' accusations that China's economic cooperation with other countries is "too good to be true" and will cause "insurmountable debt" are nothing but "sour grapes," a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Asked about assertions by Kimberly Reed, president of the Export-Import Bank of the US, and Keith Krach, undersecretary of state of the US, that China was distorting the playing field through "export financing," Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson, mounted a lengthy response, saying that it was the US government that was distorting markets through government intervention and undermining global rules.
In an op-ed on the Fox Business Network on Saturday, Reed repeated longstanding US accusations against China, including intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, dumping, and currency manipulation and market distortion.
Sharing the article on Twitter on Monday, Krach said that Chinese deals with other countries were "too good to be true" and only caused "poor infrastructure, environmental destruction [and] insurmountable debt."
"This rhetoric by some in the US that Chinese deals are 'too good to be true' is nothing but sour grapes," Zhao told a routine press conference in Beijing, noting that Chinese financing deals meet economic development demand in relevant countries, improve living standards in relevant countries, and help promote global economic growth.
"They are broadly welcomed by host countries," Zhao said.
On the US officials' claims of market distortion, Zhao pointed out that it was the US that misuses so-called national security excuses to flagrantly crack down on other countries' businesses, seize foreign countries' market access and force foreign firms to sell shares and technologies to American companies, among a long list of actions.
The US government has also forced third-party countries to cut off normal technology and product supplies, and arrest other countries' business executives in third countries, Zhao added.
The US government is forcing Chinese tech firm ByteDance to sell its video-sharing app TikTok to American companies, and pressuring other countries to cut off chip supply to Chinese telecom firm Huawei. It also asked Canada to arrest Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
"These are precisely the reckless government interventions that have gravely distorted markets and seriously undermined WTO rules and the multilateral trade system," the spokesperson said, adding that China has lived up to its responsibilities as a major trading nation and the improvement in its business environment is known around the world.
"As for the [accusation] that China manipulates its currency, it is yet another groundless accusation," Zhao said, noting the IMF and other global organizations have all recognized that the yuan's exchange rate is line with China's economic fundamentals and has not been overvalued or undervalued.
