Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry

In response to a question about US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent statement, in which he described China's investments in certain Global South countries as "rapacious," saying they take the countries' mineral rights and leave them with debts on their balance sheets, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded on Tuesday, saying that the US is not in a position to point fingers at the cooperation between China and Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries.

Lin emphasized that China is always an important member of the Global South and stays committed to promoting solidarity and revitalization of the Global South. The economic and trade cooperation between China and Global South countries as well as other countries follows international rules and market rules, and is characterized by complementarity and mutual benefit.

The cooperation not only improves the well-being of the people in developing countries, but also promotes economic transformation and upgrading in these countries, thus bringing tangible benefits to countries' prosperity and development and people's lives, according to Lin.

China carries out practical cooperation with countries in LAC on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, which greatly boosted socioeconomic development in LAC countries and was welcomed and commended by them, according to Lin. The US long-term bullying and plundering has left Latin America with open veins, Lin added.

The Chinese Embassy in Argentina said on Tuesday that it firmly opposes Bessent's remarks made during his visit to Argentina, accusing him of maliciously smearing China's legitimate cooperation with other nations.

The so-called "rapacious deals" and "debt traps" attributed to China are unfounded; however, it is true that some people with ulterior motives are attempting to sow discord between China and countries such as Argentina and those in Africa, the embassy stated via its official WeChat account on Tuesday.

China offers assistance to developing countries, including those in Latin America and Africa, within its capacity and without attaching any political conditions. Such cooperation has effectively promoted economic and social development, improved livelihoods in the respective countries, and been warmly welcomed by local governments and citizens, the embassy said.

The embassy emphasized that if the US cannot provide similar support, it should at least avoid hindering other countries' efforts in assisting developing nations and refrain from compromising their well-being for its own geopolitical interests, which not only lacks basic respect for developing countries and the Global South, but is also an extremely immoral act of hegemony, tyranny and bullying.


Global Times