US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Photo: IC

US officials' recent remarks in Australia are unwarranted attacks and slandering against China, which exposed the lingering hegemonic mentality of certain forces in the US, the Chinese Embassy in Australia said.

 "Their intention is doomed to fail," reads a statement the embassy released on its website on Sunday.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met their Australian counterparts in Sydney on Sunday at an annual security forum, Reuters reported.

During the meeting, Esper accused China of "destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region with predatory economics, intellectual property theft" and "weaponizing the global commons," according to the report.

In response, the Chinese Embassy said that the situation in the South China Sea remains generally stable, and it is the forces from outside of the region like the US that are stirring up troubles and sowing discord with ill intentions.

These behaviors will only disrupt the situation in the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability, the embassy said, noting that countries and people within the region will never buy a single word of what they said.

Esper also said that he wants to deploy intermediate range missiles at various Asia-Pacific sites within months following the US' withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia, AP reported.

 "The unilateral withdrawal of the US from the INF Treaty has been widely criticized by the international community. As the world's largest nuclear arsenal possessor, the US has special and primary responsibilities in nuclear disarmament," the Chinese Embassy said.

Instead of escaping from its own responsibilities, the US should continue to drastically reduce its nuclear arms, so as to create necessary conditions for other countries to participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations, it noted.

Australia said on Monday that it will not host any US missile sites, AP reported.

Global Times


Newspaper headline: Embassy criticizes hegemonic mentality