China expresses strong dissatisfaction to US defense bill

REUTERS: China expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition on Tuesday to the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 which includes negative content on China. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the statement after U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on Monday. Lu said that China has repeatedly expressed its position on this issue and lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side several times. China is strongly dissatisfied that the U.S. side passed and signed the NDAA in disregard of China's firm opposition. China urges the U.S. to abandon its Cold War mentality and its concept of the zero-sum game to correctly and objectively view China and its relations with China, Lu added. He stressed that the U.S. should firmly abide by the one-China principle and the commitments made in the three Sino-U.S. joint communique. Lu urged the U.S. to undo the China-related provisions so as to avoid damaging China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in key areas. The new defense bill has made specific references to China, which include formulating a strategy to counter China's activities and conducting an assessment of Taiwan's military readiness.