China dubs US ‘master of bullying & least qualified country pushing hegemonic order'

China on Thursday labelled the United States as the “master of bullying” in a scathing attack, and urged that it should stop promoting a “hegemonic order.” Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, at a defence briefing asserted that United States is “the least qualified country” that blames, attacks and threatens others. Wu Qian was responding to recent comments made by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin who discussed the necessity of countering “aggression and bullying from China.” US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Mark Milley, also accused Beijing and Moscow of attempting to change the “current rules-based order.”

US has 'hegemonic mindset': Beijing's Defence Ministry spokesperson

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman, Senior Colonel Wu Qian lambasted Washington’s leadership for making provocative remarks against Chinese ruling government. He accused the latter of possessing strong Cold War mentality. “US comments, as always, reflect hegemonic mindset and reveals its anxiety over the peaceful rise of China,” said Qian at the conference. “Whichever expressions the US are using, whether it is ‘bullying’ or ‘undermining international rules and order,’ I think, every term applies to the US itself,” the Chinese military spokesman further added. 

Wu Qian referenced United States military interventions in Iraq and Syria as an example of “master of bullying,” and bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia 23 years ago. NATO bombing of Yugoslavia under Operation Allied Force involved five US Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs that were dropped on People's Republic of China embassy in the Belgrade district of New Belgrade. Washington later clarified that it had intended to drop the bomb on Yugoslav Federal Directorate for Supply and Procurement (FDSP) but accidentally dropped it on Chinese embassy. The then president Bill Clinton apologised for identifying “wrong military target.”  

“When it comes to a rules-based international order, the United States is a globally recognized rule-breaker,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, Senior Colonel Wu Qian reminded. 

Chinese official also slammed US, saying that it violates rules “more than anyone else” and argued that Washington unilaterally withdraws from agreements. “We urge the US to stop the wrong practice of presenting its domestic regulations as international rules and promoting the US-style ‘hegemonic order.’ We encourage it to accept China’s peaceful development objectively and rationally,” he said. Wu Qian had also labelled so-called regional and nuclear threats from China “an obvious attempt” by the US to manipulate the narrative to dominate the Asia pacific region, and redeem “absolute security and military superiority” in Asia and the globe. 

Chinese defence ministry spokesperson had slammed US government for “grossly interfering” in China’s internal affairs and fabricating false information to viciously smear China. He had reiterated that there is  only one set of rules – the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, not the so-called rules centered on the interests of a small “clique”. “There is only one international order – the international order based on international law, not the self-centered order advocated by a handful of countries,” he asserted.

China also derided "US Congress members' recent visit to Taiwan and their provocative remarks “to catch public eyeballs, which China firmly opposes.” Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing the whole China,” he reminded.