US' ‘China Initiative’ stands exposed, says Beijing

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – China on Tuesday urged the US to “heed the just call from all walks of life” and “earnestly correct its mistakes and stop interfering” with normal exchanges and cooperation between Beijing and Washington in the fields of science, technology, and culture.

“The (China) initiative has not only seriously impacted China-US relations but also aggravated racial discrimination in the US and caused grave damage to the Asian American community,” Zhao Lijian, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Beijing.

The statement from Beijing comes after a group of at least 177 Stanford University professors asked the US Justice Department to stop “looking for Chinese spies at US universities.”

Several groups have also raised concern at what they call the US' “China Initiative,” calling it “racial profiling and terrorizing some scientists.”

“The media has exposed that the so-called ‘China Initiative’ sets targets before investigating cases. Such disregard for judicial justice will only lead to cases involving unjust, false, or wrong charges,” Zhao said, according to a ministry statement.

“This joint letter signed by the faculty members once again proves that more and more people in the US have realized that the so-called ‘China Initiative’ is essentially a tool for anti-China forces in the US to abuse the concept of national security to contain and suppress China,” he added.