BEIJING, December 21. /TASS/. Beijing urges Washington and NATO to stop creating imaginary enemies on the international stage, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday.

"China has always been committed to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity across the world. The concerned party needs to put an end to unfounded accusations and slander against China and also stop promoting confrontation and creating imaginary enemies," Mao Ning said in response to a TASS request to comment on remarks by US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith.

"[The US should] stop using NATO as a tool to maintain its hegemony and create disorder in the world," she added. Besides, Mao Ning pointed out that the United States needed to abandon its Cold War mentality and the policy of bloc confrontation, and instead do more to facilitate global peace and stability.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that according to Smith, Washington was concerned that Moscow and Beijing were allegedly "sharing a toolkit" of strategies aimed at undermining NATO unity.