China responds to Barr speech, says it won’t be bullied

China on Friday responded to Attorney General William Barr’s warnings to American business leaders the day before against promoting policies favorable to Beijing, saying it will not be bullied.

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said China’s primary concern is improving its citizens’ lives and keeping global stability and peace, according to The Associated Press.

“As an independent sovereign state, China has the right to safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests, to defend the achievements made by the Chinese people with hard work, to refuse any bullying and injustice against China, and to fight back against malicious slander and attacks by the U.S. against China,” Hua said at a daily briefing.

Barr’s speech in Michigan on Thursday amplified Trump administration criticisms of Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, accusing the country of hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE) in March and of attempting to hack American universities and businesses to steal research related to a coronavirus vaccine.

“The People’s Republic of China is now engaged in an economic blitzkrieg, an aggressive, orchestrated, whole-of-government — indeed, whole-of-society — campaign to seize the commanding heights of the global economy and to surpass the U.S. as the world’s preeminent superpower,” Barr said.

Hua called Barr’s accusations of cyber theft “absurd,” asserting that China’s preeminence in research development of vaccines makes stealing data unnecessary.

“Because everyone knows that China is in a leading position in the research and development of new coronavirus vaccines, we have first-class scientific research personnel, and we do not need to gain a leading position with theft,” Hua said.

China, like many other countries, is racing to develop an effective coronavirus vaccine. 

The nation that completes the vaccine first will be put at a significant advantage in competing for dominance of profits to be earned.