US official: Washington aims for calm China ties, not economic strangling

The United States aims for stable relations with China and is not attempting to strangle its economy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby stated.

“You probably have heard this over the years that the Chinese believe that we were trying to strangle their growth or hold them down. That's not what we're trying to do. But we're going to make sure that we and our allies and partners are operating from a position of strength,” Caliber.Az quotes Colby as saying at the Munich Security Conference.

He emphasized that Washington is interested in stable and decent relations with China, aims to avoid conflict and engage in mutually beneficial trade, while maintaining a position of strength.

“We understand and we respect China's tremendous achievements over many years in the development of its economy. It's a significant, very significant military buildup and we're acting accordingly, but we treat it respectfully and looking at it clear in a cleareyed way with the goal of a favorable balance of power and stability,”  Colby concluded.

By Jeyhun Aghazada