China slams US annual defense policy bill

China has lodged solemn representations with the United States over signing into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, which contains negative China-related content, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a query that US President Joe Biden signed the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2025 into law on Monday.

Mao stressed that the US side has played up the "China threat" year after year, preached military support to Taiwan, abused state power to suppress China's scientific, technological and economic development, and restricted economic and trade exchanges as well as people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.

The US move has undermined China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and disrupted efforts from both sides to stabilize bilateral relations.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this, and has lodged stern representations with the US side," she said.

The spokesperson said that China urges the US side to discard the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, view China's development and China-US relations in an objective and rational way, earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués.

She urged the United States to stop arming Taiwan, stop politicizing and weaponizing science, technology and economic and trade issues, stop seeking excuses for increasing military expenditure and maintaining hegemony, and refrain from implementing the negative China-related provisions of the above-mentioned NDAA.

China will take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, Mao said.