(30 Jun 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Beijing - 30 June 2022 1. Wide of news conference 2. Wide of journalists 3. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson: "NATO's so-called Strategic Concept in 2022 disregards facts, confuses right and wrong and insists on wrongly defining China as posing a systemic challenge. It smears China's foreign policy, makes irresponsible remarks on China's normal military development and defense policy, and incites confrontation and antagonism. The document is fraught with Cold War mentality and ideological bias. China is seriously concerned about this and firmly opposes it." 4. Wide of journalists 5. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson: "NATO is the systemic challenge to world peace and stability. NATO claims to be a regional and defensive organization, but in fact it has been making advances into new areas and domains, launching wars across the world and killing innocent civilians." 6. Journalists 7. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson: "Now, NATO is trying to extend its tentacles to Asia-Pacific in an attempt to export the Cold War mentality and replicate bloc confrontation. The Asia-Pacific is a highland of peace and stability and a promising land for cooperation and development. Any acts that undermine the peace and stability and solidarity and cooperation in the region, will be met with common opposition of the Chinese people and the people of other Asia-Pacific countries and end in failure." 8. Journalists 9. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson: "The development of relations between countries should be conducive to world peace and stability, rather than targeting or undermining the interests of third parties. China will closely follow the moves of NATO and will not sit idly by when a situation harms China's interests." 10. Wide of news conference STORYLINE: China on Thursday expressed "serious concerns" over NATO's ten-year Strategic Concept, saying it wrongly defines China as "posing a systemic challenge" to global stability. NATO has for the first time singled out China as one of its strategic priorities for the next decade, warning about its growing military ambitions, confrontational rhetoric towards Taiwan and other neighbors, and increasingly close ties to Russia. "China is substantially building up its military forces, including nuclear weapons, bullying its neighbors, threatening Taiwan ... monitoring and controlling its own citizens through advanced technology, and spreading Russian lies and disinformation," Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said after presenting the Strategic Concept at a NATO conference in Madrid. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the paper "smears China's foreign policy, makes irresponsible remarks on China's normal military development and defense policy, and incites confrontation and antagonism." Describing NATO as a "systemic challenge," Zhao warned of the bloc's attempt to "export the Cold War mentality and replicate bloc confrontation" in Asia-Pacific. "Any acts that undermine the peace and stability and solidarity and cooperation in the region, will be met with common opposition of the Chinese people and the people of other Asia-Pacific countries and end in failure," said Zhao. Zhao called on countries not to direct at third parties while developing relations, adding that Beijing would "closely follow the moves of NATO and will not sit idly by when a situation harms China's interests." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3219c92d841c47f2b665b58b7a466fa9