China’s Foreign Ministry on June 12 lambasted a statement by the United States and five of its allies on “trade-related economic coercion and non-market-oriented policies and practices,” saying the statement actually resembles more to a description of the United States itself.
According to Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the ministry, who spoke at a regular press briefing on the same day, when asked about the allegations, he replied that “this statement was made by the states States with their “Five Eyes” allies and Japan, but every sentence it contains reads like a description of the United States itself”.
On June 9, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, members of the “Five Eyes” alliance, and Japan jointly issued a statement, stressing their concern about the that trade-related economic coercion and non-market-oriented policies and practices threaten the multilateral trading system and damage relations between countries. They also expressed concern about the pervasiveness of subsidies, anti-competitive practices by state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfer and state interference in corporate decision-making.
Although the text does not name any country by name, foreign media have suggested that it is in fact targeting China, especially since US officials have recently highlighted “China’s economic coercion”.
Commenting on Monday’s statement, the spokesperson did not mince words, saying that “with the United States trying to project its deplorable image onto others, the world has an opportunity to see clearly what they really are, namely a country that flouts free market principles and international trade rules, adding “we suggest the UK and other countries use this statement as a checklist and urge the United States to correct its economic coercion, unilateral sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction, and other non-market practices”.
The US CHIPS and Science Act prohibits companies that receive federal funding from expanding their advanced semiconductor production capacity in China for a decade. Wang said it is also wielding carrots and sticks with U.S. allies over semiconductor exports to China.
Furthermore, the spokesperson pointed out, the United States has also abused the concept of national security and the power of the state to suppress companies like Huawei and TikTok, and, moreover, it has been the only one to prevent for many consecutive years the appointment of new judges to the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization, thus paralyzing the dispute settlement mechanism.
Finally, he concluded, forced labor is a persistent problem in the United States, it is even as old as the country itself, noting that even today more than 500,000 people still live in the States. United under the yoke of modern slavery and forced labor.
This article is originally published on french.china.org.cn
