BEIJING: China on Tuesday cautiously reacted to the remarks of JD Vance, the vice-presidential pick by former US President Donald Trump terming Beijing as the biggest threat.
“We have always opposed the US hyping issues related to China during their elections,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing.
In his first remarks after being nominated by Trump as his Republican running mate, Vance termed China as the “biggest threat” to the US. The US will hold its presidential elections this year in November.
The Senator from Ohio made the remarks during an interview with Fox News. When asked about the war in Ukraine, he said Trump would negotiate with Russia and Ukraine to bring this war to a rapid close so America can focus on the real issue, which is China.
Senator JD Vance has been named as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “That’s (China) the biggest threat to our country and we are completely distracted from it,” he said, shortly after joining the Republican presidential ticket.
President Joe Biden and his opponent Trump are looking to be seen tough against China as they head toward an election rematch in November.
Trump has pledged to increase tariffs on China across the board if reelected, vowing a 60 percent tax on all Chinese imports. Biden has already announced a new 100 percent levy on electric cars from the world’s No. 2 economy. According to the US spies, China has no clear preference between the two presidential candidates.
