Zhao Lijian Photo: CFP

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday called on US officials to stop sowing discord between China and Latin America, after some US individuals issued groundless accusations and rumors to smear China. 

US Senators and officials from the Department of State, the US Agency for International Development and the US International Development Finance Corporation reportedly said that China has undermined the economic and development interests of Latin American and Caribbean states through the Belt and Road Initiative and other means.  

The claims were made at a recent US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US plans to hold the Ninth Summit of the Americas to counter China's engagement in the region, according to media reports.

"These US individuals are hurling groundless accusations and fabricating rumors to smear China," said Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

China and Latin American and Caribbean states are all developing countries. Guided by the concept of mutual respect, equality, win-win cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, China conducts cooperation with the countries on the basis of each other's needs and interests, Zhao said. 

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has given countries in the region strong support in combating the pandemic, which has been widely welcomed, and China stands ready to pursue trilateral and multilateral cooperation on the basis of respecting the will of countries in the region, Zhao noted.

Zhao urged the US will take off their tinted glasses, discard the outdated Monroe Doctrine and Cold War mentality, stop spreading disinformation on China, stop coercing Latin American and Caribbean states into picking sides, and stop sowing discord between China and Latin American and Caribbean states. 

Global Times