Beijing slams US Republicans for ‘groundless accusations’
TROUBLED WATERS: Eight Chinese ships to offer cruises to disputed sea
BEIJING: China on Thursday warned the Donald Trump-fronted US Republican Party against making “groundless accusations” after it accused Beijing of cultural genocide and said its economy was based on piracy.
The GOP said in its 2016 platform that Beijing made “a preposterous claim to the entire South China Sea”, adding that “cultural genocide continues” in the regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
“The currency is manipulated, our technology is stolen and intellectual property and copyrights are mocked in an economy based on piracy,” it added.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang called on the party to “stop their groundless accusations against China and interference in China’s domestic affairs”, in a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency.
“All political parties in the United States should view China’s development in an objective and rational manner,” he added, in Beijing’s first comments on the Republican Party since Donald Trump’s nomination as its presidential candidate on Wednesday.
The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies with deep trade ties, but tensions remain over security and human rights issues.
China has been seen as sceptical of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, a consistent critic of Beijing’s rights record who last year slammed its detention of feminist activists as “shameless”. As secretary of state, Clinton also oversaw the US “pivot” to Asia, which many in China see as an effort to contain Beijing’s rising influence in the region.
US politicians have long criticised China’s human rights record, taking Beijing to task for its treatment of ethnic minorities in the western region of Xinjiang and in Tibet.
Economic and trade issues have also been a frequent point of discord. The US government under President Barack Obama has censured Beijing for overlooking intellectual property theft from American companies and the manufacture of pirate goods.
The Republican Party has often received a warmer reception in Beijing, seen as more focused on trade and with historical ties to Richard Nixon, who engineered a detente between the two powers.
Meanwhile, a state-run newspaper said on Thursday that up to eight Chinese ships will offer cruises to the South China Sea over the next five years, as Beijing continues to promote tourism to the disputed waters.
Sanya International Cruise Development Co Ltd, a joint venture by COSCO Shipping, China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corp and China Communications Construction Co Ltd, will buy between five and eight ships, the official China Daily reported.
It will also build four cruise liner docks in Sanya, a Chinese resort city on the southern island province of Hainan, the paper added.
Liu Junli, Chairman of Sanya International Cruise, said the company is already operating the “Dream of the South China Sea” cruise ship and plans to add another two cruise ships by next summer, the report said.
The ships will travel to the Crescent group of islands, part of the Paracels, and is also “considering a cruise around the South China Sea at the appropriate time”, it added.