BEIJING, August 18. /TASS/. The United States has been more active than the rest of the world in developing biological weapons and has been provoking antagonism globally by wrongfully accusing other countries on a permanent basis, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday.

"The American side has been spreading lies, provoking antagonism and causing a major damage to the security system which is based on a convention prohibiting biological and toxin weapons," the Chinese diplomat said, commenting on the Pentagon’s Biodefense Posture Review, released on Thursday. "As for biothreats, everybody is aware that Washington has been involved in biological research more than any other country," he said, adding that the US is causing the most concerns.

According to Wang, the United States has been excessively using falsifications, claiming now and then that other countries allegedly pose a threat while striving to meet its geopolitical interests and "to earn its profit for the sake of its own hegemony." "This runs counter to trends of this epoch," the diplomat said.

The United States has been acting despite efforts by the international community to remove risks stemming from biological weapons, Wang emphasized. "China will continue <..> to contribute to measures of ensuring global biosafety, as we will counter the existing risks and challenges," he reiterated.

On Thursday, the US Department of Defense released the 2023 Biodefense Posture Review. According to it, research with biological weapons by a number of countries, in particular Russia and China, poses a threat to US national security.