US tries to use nuclear power as geopolitical instrument — China

Monitoring Desk

BEIJING: The United States tries to use international cooperation in nuclear power as its geopolitical instrument, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang commented on Friday on the US Department of Energy’s strategy, which mentions the need for ousting Russia and China from international nuclear power markets.

“We’ve taken note of this report. It argues that in contrast to the United States China and Russia fail to observe non-proliferation requirements, which is absolutely not true. The United States uses a variety of pretexts for upsetting normal cooperation between other countries in nuclear power,” Geng said.

“US officials have been saying in public that they will use cooperation in nuclear power as a geopolitical instrument,” he added.

“China officially dismisses such politicization (of cooperation in nuclear power) and it will never agree with such accusations. Aware of its responsibility China will be developing nuclear power and also contributing to stable international cooperation in this field,” Geng concluded.

Earlier the US Department of Energy published a strategy in which it proclaimed as one of its main tasks the ousting of Russia and China from the international markets of nuclear power and technologies. Also, it voiced the intention to impede cooperation by Moscow and Beijing with East European and African countries in this field.

The US violates its own international obligations by suspending contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO), undermining global cooperation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday, commenting on the statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding further suspension of WHO funding.

“Attacks on the WHO and attempts to discredit it by the United States are baseless,” the diplomat said. “The US is paying its dues to the WHO as a legal entity, and it must adhere to its obligations as a member state of the organization. The suspension of funding by Washington is a violation of its fundamental obligations, namely before other members of the organization. Such actions undermine global cooperation and may lead to serious consequences,” the spokesman stressed.

“Supporting the WHO can save many lives and stop the spread of the pandemic,” Geng Shuang concluded.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Fox News that the US might suspend its funding of the WHO indefinitely.

On April 14, Trump announced that Washington had halted funding of the World Health Organization. He declared that the United States was suspending its WHO membership dues and accused the organization of wrong judgements and recommendations, which allegedly resulted in a 20-fold increase in COVID-19 cases worldwide. (TASS)