China urges US to stop abusing "national security" concept to defame Chinese companies

China firmly opposes the United States' generalization of the concept of "national security" and its actions on blaming and smearing Chinese companies, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday.

Mao made the remarks at a regular press briefing when commenting on a news report of the Wall Street Journal citing a U.S. official's remarks which smeared a Chinese company for allegedly conducting espionage by using undersea internet cables.

"We noted that relevant company has issued a response to the false claims, saying that the company strictly complies with relevant laws and regulations, international practices and industry standards, and daily operations are in line with the regulations set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Chinese government always encourages our companies to observe market principles and international rules in their operations. US officials' claims are completely baseless and constitute ill-intentioned vilification of Chinese companies. We firmly oppose such US moves of overstretching the concept of national security and attacking and smearing Chinese companies," said Mao.

"By vilifying and suppressing telecommunications companies from China and the rest of the world, the US government intends to build a global monitoring system dominated by the US with no rival and under no oversight, so as to leave a door open for its blatant eavesdropping and espionage. In his book The Chip Trap, Marc Lassus, founder of French smart card producer Gemplus, revealed how US security services victimized him and seized control of Gemplus to eavesdrop on the rest of the world. The higher the pitch of the US framing of others, the clearer the world will see what a "hacking empire" the US truly is. We urge the US government, which is obsessed with perpetuating its supremacy in cyberspace and telecommunications, to reflect on its behavior, stop vilifying Chinese companies, and stop these 'thief-crying-stop-thief' stunts," Mao added.

China urges US to stop abusing "national security" concept to defame Chinese companies

The new China-Mongolia cross-border railway is expected to serve as a new bridge for boosting connectivity between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing on Thursday.

China and Mongolia held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday to mark the official launch of construction on the Gantsmod–Gashuunsukhait rail project, which will be the second cross-border rail link between the two countries.

Lin said at a regular press briefing that the railway would inject new momentum into the development of China-Mongolia bilateral relations.

"On May 14, China and Mongolia held a ceremony to mark the official groundbreaking of the Gantsmod-Gashuunsukhait cross-border railway, which is the second cross-border railway between the two countries. Expanding cooperation in key areas such as economy and trade, energy, mining and connectivity is an important common understanding between President Xi Jinping and Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. In February this year, Premier Li Qiang and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene jointly witnessed the exhibiting of the cooperation agreement on the Gantsmod-Gashuunsukhait railway and coal trade," said Lin.

"The construction of this cross-border railway is not only a concrete step of implementing the important common understanding between the presidents of the two countries, but also an important action to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia's Steppe Road Program. We hope this railway will serve as a new bridge for China-Mongolia connectivity, fostering deeper development integration, promoting industrial synergy, and expanding visits and exchanges, thereby injecting new impetus in to the building of a China-Mongolia community with a shared future," he said.

New cross-border railway to enhance connectivity between China, Mongolia: FM spokesman