Zhao Lijian

The US strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific, a secret document recently declassified by the US government, exposes the Trump administration's plot to smear and contain China and undermine regional peace and stability, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday.

The declassified document reveals a strategy to reduce regional economies' economic reliance on China, eyes replacing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and even plans to partner with countries including India to contain China.

In developing relations with its neighbors, China has always been committed to good-neighborliness and friendliness, mutual respect and equal treatment, and to building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. China never seeks any sphere of influence, and doesn't form cliques or small circles like the US, Zhao told a regular press conference.

Asia is a powerhouse for global economic development and Asian countries have performed exceptionally in combating the pandemic and generating economic revival, which is attributed to regional economies' mutual support and intimate cooperation, the spokesman said.  

"The BRI is a public good strongly welcomed by regional countries and the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership indicates strong willingness among Asian countries to deepen cooperation. Some US politicians' push for wall-building, decoupling and supply chain cutoffs that go against economic principles and popular sentiment will not succeed," he commented. 

China unwaveringly holds onto the path of peaceful development and is committed to joining hands with regional countries to resolve conflicts and disputes through friendly consultations, according to Zhao.

By contrast, the Trump administration, for its private ends, has created and intensified contradictions, undermining national sovereignty and the security of regional economies, Zhao went on to say, noting that regional economies can make their own judgments and won't be deluded by individual US politicians.

The spokesman called for the US to return to rationality, to abandon its outdated mentality and see China's development in an objective manner, and to play a constructive role in safeguarding regional peaceful development.