China urges US to stop damaging bilateral relations

China on Wednesday urged the likes of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to immediately stop words and acts that damage Chinese interests and China-US relations.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said this at a press briefing when asked to comment on Pompeo's speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library last week.

It is reported that, in his speech, Pompeo said the old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed, and this kind of engagement has not brought the kind of change inside of China that the US had hoped to induce.

Pompeo and some other US politicians have been hyping up so-called "failed US engagement with China" and "failed US attempt to induce change inside of China", and China has made clear its position, Wang said.

The claim of "failed US engagement with China" disrespects history and facts, said Wang, adding that over the past nearly five decades since China and the US resumed exchange and established diplomatic relations, the two sides have been expanding and deepening exchange and cooperation across the board, which greatly benefited people in both countries.

According to statistics, China-US economic and trade relations support 2.6 million American jobs, and over 72,500 US companies have investments or business in China. In multilateral fora, China-US cooperation has benefited the two countries and the world, from handling regional hotspots to addressing global issues like counter-terrorism and non-proliferation.

The "US attempt to induce change inside of China" is doomed to fail, said Wang, adding that the path a country takes should be determined by its own people based on its cultural tradition and historical heritage, and no force is entitled to negate the choice of other countries.

In a world full of diversity, China and the US, despite their different social systems, can by all means peacefully co-exist, he said.

Driven by political needs, Pompeo and some others are negating previous US administrations' China policy and the progress achieved in relations with China and attempting to stoke ideological confrontation, he said.

This has proven to be unpopular even in the US, Wang said, adding that over the past few days, many former politicians, academics and media have questioned and criticized Pompeo's remarks, pointing out his misconceptions on China, China-US relations and the US China policy objectives.

"This fact itself speaks volumes," he said.

Wang said that China-US relations bear on the well-being of the two peoples and world peace and stability.

"We urge the likes of Pompeo to renounce the obsolete Cold War mentality and ideological bias, look at China and China-US relations correctly, and immediately stop words and acts damaging Chinese interests and bilateral relations so as to create conditions for bringing this relationship back on track," Wang said.