China slams US: Old lies… exposed ideological bias, Cold War mentality

It said, “China has been advocating that development of bilateral relations between countries should be conducive to regional peace, stability and development, and not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of a third party. The boundary question is a bilateral matter between China and India. The two sides have been discussing disengagement and deescalation in the border areas through diplomatic and military channels. China and India have the wisdom and ability to handle their differences properly. There’s no space for a third party to intervene.”

The embassy stated, “We urge the US side to respect facts and truth, abandon the Cold War and the zero-sum mentality, stop hyping up the so-called ‘China threat’, and stop wrong actions that undermine regional peace and stability.”

On Tuesday, while Pompeo had said that Indian and US leaders and citizens see with “increasing clarity” that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is “no friend to democracy and rule of law”, Esper flagged the “increasing aggression and destabilising activities by China”.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, however, did not name China, but talked about “respecting” and “upholding” the “territorial integrity and sovereignty” of all States — a not-so veiled reference to Beijing’s belligerence along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).