NEW DELHI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in India on Tuesday urged the United States to "respect facts and truth, abandon the Cold War and the zero-sum mentality, stop hyping up the so-called 'China threat,' and stop the wrong actions that undermine regional peace and stability."
The statement was issued against U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for openly attacking China during their visit to India to attend the India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
The statement said Pompeo and other senior officials repeated lies, attacked and made allegations against China, violated the norms of international relations and basic principles of diplomacy, instigated China's relations with other countries in the region, which once again exposed their Cold War mentality and ideological bias.
"The Chinese side expresses its firm opposition to it," it said.
"The U.S. side once again tries to shift the blame onto China on COVID-19, which is indeed distorting facts to mislead the public," it said, adding that "what China has done and achieved in our fight against the virus are open for all to see. We hope U.S. politicians could focus on their own epidemic response and saving lives instead of shifting blame on others."
The statement noted that the so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy" proposed by the United States is to stir up confrontation among different groups and blocs and to stoke geopolitical competition, in a bid to maintain the dominance of the United States, organize closed and exclusive ideological cliques.
China has been advocating that the 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 statement said.
Also, noting that the boundary question is a bilateral matter between China and India, the statement said that the two sides have been discussing disengagement and de-escalation 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," it added.