US President Donald Trump on Monday signed the 716-billion-US-dollar National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. The bill provides about 616.9 billion US dollars for the base Pentagon budget, 21.9 billion US dollars for nuclear weapons and 69 billion US dollars in war funding.

The new US defense bill also contains a section on cooperation with Taiwan. It provides that the US should enhance support for the military capacity of Taiwan.

“The United States should strengthen defense and security cooperation with Taiwan to support the development of capable, ready and modern defense forces necessary for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” the act states.

“I think such clauses inside the National Defense Authorization Act of the United States are severe interference in China’s affairs," said Zhang Junshe, senior captain and vice president of the China Naval Research Institute. "We know that Taiwan is part of China. And the United States endorses the one-China principle. Such moves taken by the United States will seriously violate the spirit of the three joint communiques signed by the Chinese government and the US government.”

“This reflects the fact that the United States is filled with a Cold War mentality and zero-sum game thinking. They are using national security as an excuse to ban foreign investment including Chinese company’s investments. This actually violates the spirit of the multilateralism system.”

Beijing has protested over Washington adopting the 2019 NDAA, which includes some "negative" clauses regarding China, the country's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

According to Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department for International and Strategic Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, previously, the US believed that countries across the world should cooperate with each other, especially on some non-traditional issues like terrorism and climate change. But currently, it seems that President Trump believes that the US should try to change its targets, especially in the strategic fields. China and Russia have been labeled as the main problems facing the US, not issues such as terrorism.

Su pointed out that the US is also suspicious of China's development.

The US believed that it could shape China and make it follow the same pattern as Western countries; however, "China has found a new way and provided a new model for development. Not only for developing countries but also for some developed countries," Su said. "So it seems that the two countries are facing a turning point."

Zhang thinks the US' goal of making an enemy out of China is the real reason behind these recent moves. In Trump’s eyes, China will challenge the US in its global leadership. However, his judgments regarding China's intentions are incorrect.

In Zhang’s opinion, China’s development aim is to improve the living standards and welfare of its people, to strengthen national security and protect the country from outside aggression.