China urges US, Japan not to incite division in name of cooperation

BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday urged the United States and Japan not to politicize, weaponize and overstretch the concept of national security on economic, trade and sci-tech issues, not target third parties or undermine their interests, still less incite division and confrontation in the name of cooperation and dialogue.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a routine press conference.

According to reports, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo held an inaugural ministerial meeting of the U.S.-Japan Economic Policy Consultative Committee (EPCC, or the Economic "2+2") with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Koichi Hagiuda on July 29. Blinken said the two sides talked about China and its "coercive economic policies" as contrary to an open, inclusive, rules-based international monetary system.

In response, Zhao said China always upholds the principle of openness, inclusiveness and win-win outcomes and is committed to building an open world economy and sharing development opportunities with all countries.

"China never stretches its hands into the house of other countries and meddles in their domestic affairs. China never seeks a trade war and never coerces or suppresses foreign enterprises," he said.

"By contrast, there are plenty of examples of U.S. economic coercion. Economic sanctions, technological blockade, suppression of foreign enterprises and so on -- the United States has done them all. The aim is to maintain U.S. economic hegemony. This not only runs counter to underlying laws of the market, but also violates international trade rules," he added.

More ironically, the spokesperson pointed out that Japan itself is a victim of U.S. economic coercion. Since the 1980s, the United States has imposed multiple rounds of economic sanctions on Japan, used all kinds of tools to crack down on Japan's competitive industries, and even sought to perform a surgical operation on Japan's economic structure, all of which are text-book examples of economic coercion.

"Why is Japan being selectively amnesic and chasing the steps of the United States on this?" he asked.