Days after its assertion to fight trade or 'any other type' of war with the United States, China on Thursday toned down its stand saying that no such wars should be fought because they cannot be won.
"The US must no longer seek to contain or go after China in the name of strategic competition," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told the media in Beijing responding to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's remark that his country doesn't seek a war with China, but will rebuild the military and prepare for war.
"We've always held the clear cut view that whatever kind of war it is, a tariff war or a trade war, a cold war or a hot war, they should not be fought and cannot be won," Lin said.
In contrast, on Tuesday Lin had said: "Let me reiterate that intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating."
"If the US has other agenda in mind and if war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we're ready to fight till the end," he said, replying to a question on US tariffs on Chinese goods.
Reacting to Lin's comments, Hegseth said on Wednesday on Fox News: "Those who long for peace must prepare for war, [and] that's why we're rebuilding our military. That's why we're establishing deterrence."
President Donald Trump understands peace comes through strength, and he also has a good relationship with the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Hegseth's comments posted on the US Defence Department website on Wednesday said.
He said the US is not actively seeking conflict with China.
"We don't seek that war," Hegseth said.
"But my job as secretary of defence is to make sure we're ready. [So], we need the defence spending, the capabilities, the weapons and the posture in the Indo-Pacific, which is something we're very much focused on."
Asked for his reaction to Hegseth's remarks, Lin said on Thursday 'the rhetoric of the US official is aimed at fuelling ideological confrontation and spreading the so-called 'China threat' that doesn't exist.
"The US needs to realise that China is not a mirror image of the hegemonic US. The US should stop viewing China-US relations with an outdated Cold War mentality," he said.
Beijing's heightened rhetoric comes in the midst of growing tensions between US and China over Trump's two instalments of 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese exports to America with threat to impose more.
Trump is demanding China to address US concerns over fentanyl, a potent opioid drug blamed for widespread drug addiction in America.
China on Tuesday retaliated against Trump's imposition of second round of 10 per cent tariffs on its export by slapping an additional 15 per cent tariffs on American goods and initiated legal action against Washington in WTO.
China's rhetoric also coincides with China's annual parliament session which opened on Wednesday in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and close to 3,000 legislators are attending the weeklong session.
The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to address the media on the sidelines of the Parliament session on Friday.
On the fentanyl issue, Lin said on Tuesday that 'the US, not anyone else, is responsible for the fentanyl crisis inside the US'.
"In the spirit of humanity and goodwill towards the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the US in dealing with the issue. This is obvious to all and people from various sectors in the US have expressed thanks to China on multiple occasions," he said.
"Instead of recognising our efforts, the US has sought to vilify and shift the blame to China, and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes. They've been punishing us for helping them. This is not going to solve the US' problem and will undermine our counter-narcotics dialogue and cooperation," Lin said.
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