The Chinese government Friday clapped back at Attorney General William Barr, saying his speech warning against the country’s threat to American business was bullying and slander.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China, said the country’s primary concern is improving citizen’s lives and keeping global stability and peace, not dominating American business.
“As an independent sovereign state, China has the right to safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests, to defend the achievements made by the Chinese people with hard work, to refuse any bullying and injustice against China, and to fight back against malicious slander and attacks by the U.S. against China,” Ms. Hua said at a daily briefing.
Mr. Barr called out China the day before, accusing the country of using “a wide array of predatory and often unlawful tactics,” including currency manipulation, cyberattacks, intellectual property theft and espionage.
Ms. Hua described the attorney general’s actions as “absurd” saying their research and development in the healthcare industry makes stealing U.S. data unnecessary.
“Because everyone knows that China is in a leading position in the research and development of new coronavirus vaccines, we have first-class scientific research personnel, and we do not need to gain a leading position with theft,” she said.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.