China downplays escalating competition with US: ‘Not what the world needs’

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed accusations that it sees the United States as a nation in decline, claiming it doesn't see itself in direct competition with the U.S.

Any conflict between the two world powers, and accusations China sees the U.S. as fading, results from a "lack of confidence" among U.S. officials, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

"Now again we hear remarks steeped in Cold-War and zero-sum mentality and US-style hegemonism, which clearly were designed to peddle another false narrative about 'China threat' and major-country competition as pretexts to contain and suppress China," Mao said.

"China’s development goal is to improve the life of the over 1.4 billion Chinese people. We have no intention to outcompete anyone, nor replace or challenge anyone," Mao continued. "China is glad to see development and progress in the US. I’m afraid it is out of lack of confidence that some in the US repeatedly say that 'China thinks the US is in decline.' China does not bet against the US, and we hope the US will not bet against China. The Chinese people will realize the great rejuvenation of the nation."

Mao tried to downplay the rivalry between China and the U.S., pointing to America as the "biggest source of instability in international order."

"We always believe major-country competition is not what the world needs and will by no means solve the US’s own problems or address challenges facing the world ," she said. "There are factors of competition in China-US relations, but the overall bilateral ties should not be defined or dominated by competition."

The Washington Examiner reached out to the State Department for comment.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell participated in a conversation with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace last week in which he asserted that the Chinese Communist Party sees the U.S. as a vulnerable nation in decline from its world power status.

"I think for a variety of reasons over the course of the last decade and a half, it is not just [Chinese President] Xi Jinping but it is China that believes […] the United States is in decline," Campbell said. "They've always had some anxieties about American leadership."

He added that he believed the CCP is interested in toppling the U.S. from its place of primacy in global politics, saying, "For a variety of reasons, there is a sense that it is China's time to assert itself and help move the United States off the world stage."

Xi spoke at a reception last month on the eve of China's National Day celebrations. During his remarks, he championed the "righteousness" of "complete reunification of the motherland," referencing long-standing threats to conquer the disputed island territory of Taiwan .

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Taiwan's right to self-governance is supported by the U.S., which maintains a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the question of whether Taiwan should be recognized as a fully sovereign.

The conflict is only one in a series of geopolitical issues causing tension between the U.S. and China.