China blasts U.S. official's baseless accusations

Beijing dismissed on Friday the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio's remarks concerning China during his Latin America tour as "unfounded accusations aimed at sowing discord between the country and relevant Latin America and the Caribbean nations."

Beijing has "lodged serious protests" to Washington and will firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Rubio, during his just concluded six-day visit to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, made several comments on China's cooperation with LAC countries, the Panama Canal, Belt and Road cooperation, 5G and cybersecurity, and the one-China principle. He also claimed to "counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the hemisphere."

The groundless comments from the U.S. "steeped in Cold-War mentality and ideological bias" interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine China's legitimate and lawful rights and interests, the statement said.

"The U.S. pointing fingers at normal cooperation between LAC countries and a third country shows no respect for LAC countries," the spokesperson said.

"China never attaches any strings to the practical cooperation with LAC countries, or target any third party," the spokesperson said, highlighting the mutually beneficial nature of cooperation, which has delivered tangibly to relevant countries and made lives better for the local population.

Regarding the Panama Canal, the spokesperson said China has never participated in managing or operating the Canal, and never ever has it interfered.

"The world is not blind to the truth that who is keeping the Canal neutral and thriving and who keeps threatening to 'take back' the Canal," the statement said.

Describing the Belt and Road Initiative as an initiative for economic cooperation, the spokesperson expressed China's firm opposition to the U.S.' smear campaign and attempt to sabotage the Belt and Road cooperation, saying it once again exposes the U.S.' hegemonism.

When it comes to the cybersecurity issues, the spokesperson said China has been all along committed to safeguarding cybersecurity and carrying out cooperation in relevant areas based on the principle of win-win cooperation.

On the Taiwan question, the statement reaffirmed that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair which "brooks no foreign interference".

"The series of comments fully demonstrate that the new U.S. administration has attempted to regard the Western Hemisphere, especially the Latin America, as its backyard, reviving a Monroe Doctrine for the new era," said Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the Department for American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.