BEIJING, March 6. /TASS/. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's statement on the US readiness for war with China provokes a confrontation that cannot be won, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian said.
"Relevant statements by US officials deliberately provoke ideological confrontation and create hype about the Chinese threat," he said at a briefing, responding to a TASS question about Hegseth's statement that the United States does not seek war with China, but will be ready for it. "China's position is clear and consistent: whether it is tariffs or trade, cold or hot war, nothing will come out of it, it cannot be won," he said.
According to the diplomat, Beijing advises the US authorities not to apply "hegemonic logic" to China and not to build Sino-US relations "guided by outdated Cold War thinking." Lin Jian also called on the United States not to "invoke strategic rivalry as an excuse to contain and suppress China."
Hegseth said earlier that the United States is not seeking war with China, but will rebuild its armed forces under President Donald Trump's administration to be ready for it. He emphasized that Washington is building a deterrence system because Americans "live in a dangerous world with powerful, ascendant countries with very different ideology."