China urges U.S. to drop negative China-related content in annual defense policy bill

China strongly urges the United States to abandon its Cold War mentality and ideological bias, and to refrain from implementing the negative content related to China in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, a spokesperson from China’s top legislature said on Wednesday.

Noting that both houses of the U.S. Congress passed the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2025 and President Joe Biden signed it into law, Xu Dong, spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), expressed China’s strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the negative content targeting China.

He criticized the NDAA for repeatedly hyping up the “China threat,” advocating military support for Taiwan, suppressing China’s scientific, technological and economic development, restricting China-U.S. economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges, grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs, and undermining China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.

China has always handled its relations with the United States in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and has always believed that the success of both countries presents an opportunity for each other, Xu said, adding that the two countries should be a boost to each other’s development rather than an obstacle.

The steady, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations is not only vital to the two peoples but also to the future and destiny of humanity, the spokesperson said.

“It is inevitable that China and the United States, as two major countries, will have some differences and disagreements, but they should not undermine each other’s core interests, still less engage in conflict and confrontation,” Xu said, adding that the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China’s path and system, and China’s development right are red lines that cannot be challenged.

“We strongly urge the United States to abandon its Cold War mentality and ideological bias, not to implement the negative articles of the NDAA concerning China, and avoid repeating mistakes on issues concerning China’s sovereignty and core interests. China will take resolute measures in accordance with the law to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Xu said.