WASHINGTON, Sept 19: China presents the top challenge to the United States in all of its history, surpassing the Cold War, a top US official said Wednesday, as he urged Europe to get tougher on Beijing.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, a key architect of a 15-year push for the United States to reorient its foreign policy toward Asia, also urged greater US investment in advanced technology to compete better with China.
"There is a recognition that this is the most significant challenge in our history," Campbell told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Frankly, the Cold War pales in comparison to the multifaceted challenges that China presents," he said.
"It's not just a military challenge; it's across the board. It is in the Global South. It is in technology. We need to step up our game across the board."
Asked about the remarks on Thursday, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry said they "disregard facts, openly and wantonly exaggerate the China threat, and clamour for camp confrontations".
Regarding China as the United States' greatest challenge was a mistake, Lin Jian said at a regular press conference.
"China urges the United States to abandon Cold War zero-sum thinking, stop spreading the China threat theory, and stop distorting China's strategic intentions," he added.
Campbell's tough talk comes despite a thaw in relations between the United States and China under President Joe Biden.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks more frequently in Cold War terms about confronting Beijing.
Biden and his political heir Kamala Harris have supported dialogue with China even as their administration presses ahead with tough measures including a sweeping ban on exports of advanced chips.
Biden's administration has also been pressing China about technology exports to Russia that US officials say have allowed Moscow to ramp up military production for its war in Ukraine.
"The challenge is, we've got to get more support here on this," Campbell said of US sanctions on Chinese firms, an issue he said he has been raising on visits to Europe.
Campbell said that most of Washington's European allies shared concerns about China's ties with Moscow but were still reeling from the "huge shock" of slashing energy imports from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
"For many of these countries, doing business with China has been a big deal for 15 or 20 years," he said.
Acting on China, after Russia, could feel like "kind of a one-two punch. You can understand leaders in Europe have some anxieties." —AFP
