Question: On April 3, British Defense Secretary Shapps published an article in the Daily Telegraph， stating that "we have moved from a post-war to a pre-war world" and claiming that "China is increasingly belligerent."What is your comment？

Embassy Spokesperson: This British politician’s remarks about China distort the facts and are slanderous. We strongly oppose this.

China is committed to the path of peaceful development. In the 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic, we have never initiated a war or occupied an inch of other country's land. China is the only country that has written peaceful development into its constitution, and is the only one among the five nuclear-weapon countries that has pledged not to be the first to use nuclear weapons. China follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Our national defense development aims at safeguarding our own security. Facts have proven that China has always been a force for world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. 

Over the years, the UK has been toeing the line of certain countries and stirring up trouble around the world, and the chaos their belligerence has caused in many parts of the world are still clearly evident to this day. British politicians need to take a hard look at this.

In today’s world which is deeply interconnected, countries need to work together to jointly tackle the multiple challenges facing humanity. Heightening the Cold War mentality and inciting camp confrontation goes against the trend of the times and will be destined to the dustbin of history. We advise British politicians to restrain their bellicose rhetoric, stop making groundless accusations against China, spend more time on the UK’s economy and British people's livelihood, and do more that is conducive to world peace and stability.