China accuses Hegseth of espousing 'Cold War mentality' for labeling country as a threat: 'Vilified'

China criticized U S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday for his vilified remarks filled with provocations in which he stated the Asian country poses a legitimate threat in the Indo-Pacific The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated Hegseth touted a Cold War mentality when he delivered his speech on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue shield conference in Singapore Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and expansion by countries in the region and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation vilified China with defamatory claims and falsely called China a 'threat ' a spokesperson for the ministry revealed in a message The remarks were filled with provocations and intended to sow discord the report continued China deplores and firmly opposes them and has protested strongly to the U S No country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the US itself which is also the primary factor undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific HEGSETH SAYS US WILL BOLSTER DEFENSES OVERSEAS TO ENCOURAGEMENT INDO-PACIFIC ALLIES AGAINST CHINAOn Saturday Hegseth commented the U S will bolster its defenses overseas to counter what the Pentagon views as rapidly evolving threats by China particularly toward Taiwan which Beijing maintains as its own The Chinese army is rehearsing for the real deal Hegseth noted We are not going to sugarcoat it the threat China poses is real And it could be imminent The Pentagon chief stated China is no longer building up its military forces to take Taiwan but it is actively training for it every day Addressing the dispute over Taiwan the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated in its comment that the matter is China s internal affair and that the U S should never play with fire No country is in a position to interfere the declaration explained The US should never imagine it could use the Taiwan question as leverage against China The US must never play with fire on this question China urges the US to fully abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqu s and stop supporting and emboldening the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces HEGSETH DENIES CLAIM THAT GOLDEN DOME IS 'OFFENSIVE' 'PROTECTING THE HOMELAND'The message also accused the U S of deploying offensive weaponry in the South China Sea and stoking flames and creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific which it stated was turning the region into a powder keg and making countries in the region deeply concerned In the South China Sea the message commented there has never been any matter with regard to freedom of navigation and overflight there China has perpetually been committed to working with countries concerned to properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation while safeguarding China s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with laws and regulations the spokesperson noted It is the U S that is the primary factor hurting the peace and stability in the South China Sea The comment concluded China urges the U S to fully respect the efforts of countries in the region to maintain peace and stability stop deliberately destroying the peaceful and stable conditions cherished by the region and stop inciting conflict and confrontation and escalating tensions in the region Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang also called Hegseth's comments a provocation that distorted China s protocol positions While Hegseth vowed to boost U S defenses overseas to counter any achievable threat from China the defense secretary insisted that allies in the Indo-Pacific also contribute more to their own defense We ask and indeed we insist that our allies and partners do their part on defense he declared on Saturday Sometimes that means having uncomfortable and tough conversations The U S and China reached a deal last month to cut tariffs on each down to for days to allow time for negotiators from both sides to come to a more substantive agreement U S tariffs on China were reduced from to and China's taxes on the U S were slashed from to But Trump mentioned in a social media post on Friday that he would no longer be nice with China when it comes to transaction and accused Beijing of developing an unspecified agreement with the U S