Hua Chunying File Photo

China has never sought to confront or replace the US as the top power in the world, but has the right to fight back against "malicious slander" and attacks by the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said during a regular press conference on Friday.

Hua's comments came in response to a reporter's question noting that US Attorney General William Barr said during a speech on Thursday that China is now engaged in an economic blitzkrieg. Barr also noted that China is launching a campaign to grasp the commanding heights of the global economy and is trying to surpass the US to be the main superpower in the world. He also warned that China will take advantage of globalization to spread its political ideology.

Despite being the country with the most developed and advanced medical technology in the world, the US has the most COVID-19 cases and deaths, Hua said, noting that four former directors of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have claimed that the US administration has been unprecedentedly politicized in its approach to science.

Washington is playing a real version of "House of Cards" at the cost of people's lives and social disruption, which is a misfortune for the American people, Hua said.

The US reported a record high of more than 77,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections to 3,560,364, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Hua stressed that China's major concern was improving the livelihoods of the country's citizens and the rejuvenation of the nation. China hopes to maintain global peace and stability, Hua noted, saying that those who claim China wants to surpass the US to become a major power and attempt to overthrow the existing rule system, obviously misjudge and misunderstand China's strategic intentions.

Barr also called some US technology companies "pawns of Chinese influence" and warned that the Communist Party of China has threatened to use retaliation and ban market access to influence American companies.

When asked to comment on this issue, Hua noted how the US government has brutally and unscrupulously cracked down on Chinese companies such as Huawei, adding that Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, is still being detained illegally.