BEIJING, Dec 13 (Alliance News): Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded on Friday to a statement made by a U.S. senator who had labeled Chinese garlic as a “huge threat” to U.S. food safety.
The senator’s remarks were made in the context of a “Section 301 investigation” into Chinese imports and were included in the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025” passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
This act includes provisions that would ban the sale of Chinese garlic in U.S. military stores, triggering a wave of concerns about potential protectionism.
At the daily press briefing, Mao Ning dismissed these claims, suggesting that garlic would never be seen as a significant threat to U.S. security.
She pointed out that Chinese products, ranging from drones and cranes to refrigerators and garlic, have been labeled by the U.S. as national security risks in recent years.
This, according to Mao, is a tactic used by the U.S. to justify protectionism and suppress China’s development by breaking industrial and supply chains, particularly those involving trade between China and the United States.
The spokesperson condemned the broadening of the national security concept by some American politicians, particularly in the context of economic and trade issues.
Mao emphasized that politicizing trade and technological exchanges and weaponizing them in the name of security could cause irreversible damage to global production and supply chains. This, she argued, would ultimately hurt both the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Mao Ning urged American politicians to approach the situation with greater rationality and common sense, and warned that such actions might lead to international ridicule.
She called for an end to unjustified trade barriers and urged the U.S. to adopt a more cooperative approach, which would benefit global stability and economic relations.
This latest back-and-forth between China and the U.S. highlights the increasingly tense trade relations between the two global powers.
While political rhetoric continues to escalate, China maintains that the U.S. is using national security concerns as an excuse to enforce restrictive policies that can harm both sides in the long term.
