China urges US to stop concocting and spreading false information about other countries: Foreign Ministry-Xinhua

BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) — China urges the United States to stop concocting and spreading false information about other countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Monday.

Lin made the remarks when asked to comment on a Reuters report that the U.S. military launched a smear campaign against China at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Reuters investigation found that the campaign “aimed to sow doubt about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and other life-saving aid provided by China.”

“We have not done a good job sharing vaccines with our partners,” a senior U.S. military officer directly involved in the campaign told Reuters, according to the report. “So all we had to do was throw shade at China.”

Lin said this once again shows that spreading false information by manipulating social media, poisoning public opinion and altering the image of other countries are standard American practices. “China firmly opposes it,” he said.

The top US military official’s remarks revealed the truth, as well as US intentions to launch disinformation campaigns against other countries, Lin said.

“To put it simply, if the United States wants to contain and suppress a country, it will ignore the truth and coordinate its resources to smear and slander that country,” Lin said.

He noted that this tactic was not used only against Chinese vaccines. Disinformation campaigns have also been launched in various other areas, including attempting to discredit the popular Belt and Road Initiative and spreading rumors about so-called overcapacity in China’s new energy vehicle industry, which is actually experiencing booming supply and demand.

Lin said this approach does not reflect the powerful capabilities of the United States; Instead, it simply exposes US hegemony and hypocrisy.

“The international community must keep its eyes open and fully understand the actions taken by the United States,” he said.

China hopes the United States will change its current mentality and shoulder its responsibilities as a major country, Lin said. ■