China and Russia hit back at U.S. President Donald Trump's first National Security Strategy yesterday which pilloried both countries as "revisionist powers" bent on rolling back American interests.
Chinese foreign ministry slammed the document which declared Beijing was determined to challenge American power — saying Washington should "abandon outdated notions such as a Cold War mentality."
"Any country, or any report, which distorts the facts, or maliciously slanders will only do so in vain," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov criticized the new security strategy over its "imperialist character," as reported by AFP.
"After quick reading, especially those parts of the strategy that somehow mention our country, of course, we can probably see the imperialist character of the document, there is a reluctance to abandon [the notion of a] unipolar world, with persistent reluctance, rejection of a multipolar world," Peskov said, adding that Kremlin cannot agree that Russia poses threat to the U.S.
Trump on Monday unveiled a 68-page document detailing his administration's vision of the U.S. national security.
The text uses remarkably biting language to frame Beijing and Moscow as global competitors.
"China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity," the document says, according to AP.
It warns that "Russia aims to weaken U.S. influence in the world and divide us from our allies and partners," while Russian nuclear weapons are deemed "the most significant existential threat to the United States."
It accuses China of seeking "to displace the United States" in Asia, listing a litany of US grievances, from deficits, to data theft to spreading "features of its authoritarian system." "Contrary to our hopes, China expanded its power at the expense of the sovereignty of others," it says.
The national security document -- 11 months in the making -- is required by law and is designed to form a framework for how America approaches the world. Previous national security strategies have been released without much fanfare and served as guideposts, rather than doctrinal commandments. But in this unorthodox administration, the document had taken on extra significance.
Foreign officials in Washington often complain that there are effectively "two administrations" -- one that they hear from day-to-day in contacts with the State Department and Pentagon and another coming from Trump, often via Twitter in 280 characters or fewer.
Trump and his advisors often publicly differ starkly on fundamental security issues from the Middle East to talks with North Korea. But allies looking for clarity about the intentions of the world's pre-eminent economic and military power are likely to be confused by Trump's mixed messages.Where the strategy warns Russia is using "subversive measures" to undermine "transatlantic unity," Trump again claimed that European allies were "delinquent" in paying for security "while we guarantee their safety and are willing to fight wars for them." Where the strategy warned of Moscow's "destabilizing cyber capabilities" and interference in domestic political affairs, Trump made no such reference.
