China says it will never accept ‘unfounded accusations’ made at Nato summit

BEIJING – China will never accept the “unfounded accusations” made against it at the Nato summit this week in Washington, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said to his Dutch counterpart over a phone call, his ministry said.

Mr Wang said China is willing to maintain contact with Nato on “an equal footing” and conduct exchanges on the basis of mutual respect, asking the military alliance to neither interfere with its internal affairs nor challenge its interests.

He said that China and Nato countries have different political systems and values, but this should not be a reason for Nato to “instigate confrontation with China”.

“The right way is to strengthen dialogue, enhance understanding, build basic mutual trust and avoid strategic miscalculation,” Mr Wang said in the July 11 phone call.

China on July 11 criticised the Nato summit declaration that described it as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine as biased and “sowing discord”.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nato’s “hyping up” of China’s responsibility towards the Ukraine crisis “comes with malicious intent”.

Regarding relations with the Netherlands, Mr Wang said China is willing to establish close ties with the new Dutch government and carry out all-round dialogue.

He added that China believes the Netherlands will encourage the European Union to look at China objectively and rationally, and play a constructive role in maintaining the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations.

The Nato summit said Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Europe and to security.

The European Union last week confirmed that it will

impose tariffs of up to 37.6 per cent on imports of electric vehicles made in China,

a move that ratcheted up trade tension with Beijing.

Additionally, the European Commission has reportedly also begun canvassing the region’s semiconductor industry for its views on China’s expanded production of older-generation computer chips. REUTERS