Beijing, June 15 - The Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned remarks made by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum. According to a Chinese spokesman, the Pentagon chief spread a "Cold War mentality", denigrated China and falsely labelled it a threat.
"His words were full of provocation and attempts to divide. China strongly rejects them and has lodged a protest with the United States," the spokesman said. He added that the only real hegemonic power was the US, which he said was undermining peace in the Asia-Pacific and turning the region into a "powder keg".
In response to criticism regarding Taiwan Beijing has reiterated that this is a purely internal matter for China and warned the US not to play with fire and to stop supporting separatist forces.
As for South China Sea, the spokesman denied that China was restricting freedom of navigation here and identified the United States as the main source of destabilisation in the region.
China, according to the statement, calls on the US to respect the efforts of states in the region to maintain peace and stop provoking tension and confrontation.
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