NPC opposes negative China-related content in U.S. defense act

China is strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposed to the negative China-related content of the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, Xu Dong, spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress, said on Wednesday.

The negative China-related content manipulates the Taiwan question, advocating strategic competition with China, hyping up the "China threat," promoting "de-risking" of key areas of China and interfering in China's internal affairs, which is a serious violation of the consensus reached at the San Francisco meeting between the two heads of state, Xu said.

The Taiwan question is the core of China's core interests, the foundation of the political basis of China-U.S. relations and the first red line in China-U.S. relations that must not be crossed, he said, noting that the U.S. side has made serious commitments on the Taiwan question in the three joint communiques of China and the U.S.

Any provocative act of using Taiwan to contain China is doomed to failure, he said.

Xu said China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development and is committed to developing the country and nation with its own strength.

The China-related content in the U.S. bill ignores the facts, advocates building "small yards with high fences" and decoupling and fragmenting industrial and supply chains, politicizes economic and trade, scientific and technological, cultural and other issues, and seeks to block regular exchanges and cooperation between China and the U.S., he noted. Such acts are not in line with the interests of any party, Xu said.

"We strongly urge the U.S. side to abandon its Cold War zero-sum mentality and ideological bias, refrain from implementing the negative China-related content in the bill, and stop taking desperate moves on issues involving China's sovereignty and core interests," he said.

(Cover: View of Taipei, south China's Taiwan. /CFP)