On July 18, Mr. George Sibley, the Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar, published an article. He tried his best to draw forced analogies, speak on hearsay evidence, confuse right with wrong, to attack and smear China, deliberately driving a wedge between China-Myanmar cooperation and bilateral relations. The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar makes a statement exposing and refuting the U.S. side's selfish, hypocritical, contemptible and ugly face.

    The spokesperson points out that for a period of time, the U.S. has been pursuing the so-called America First Policy. It ignores international ethics and legal norms, disregards the common interests of mankind and international trends, and has done a lot of disgusting things. In order to contain China, U.S. agencies abroad are ordered to attack and smear China. Now the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar has also extended a dirty hand to the Chinese side. The article of the U.S. Embassy is full of dirty loopholes and shoddy work to the extent that is shocking. With extremely unreasonable logic, the article links Myanmar with Hong Kong and the South China Sea issues, and even with the democracy and sovereignty issues flaunted by the United States in order to defame China-Myanmar relations, bilateral cooperation and anti-pandemic assistance. This only suggests that the U.S. agencies abroad have done whatever they could think of to attack China. Under the current international situation, the reasons why the article outrageously smearing China and sowing discords between China and Myanmar are thought-provoking. This not only reflects the "sour grapes" mindset of the United States towards the flourishing China-Myanmar relations but also another farce on a global tour by the U.S. authorities to shift the attention on domestic problems and seek selfish political gains.

    Know your own faults before blaming others for theirs. The U.S. should first look in the mirror to see whether it still looks like a major country now. The U.S. has overstepped the bottom line of international relations, promotes egoism, unilateralism and bullying, ignores international rules and international moral responsibilities, frantically withdraws from important international organizations, undermines international cooperation, refuses to perform major country's responsibilities, and endangers international peace and security. The U.S. has overstepped the bottom line of regional cooperation by downgrading the level of delegates attending the ASEAN summits for consecutive years, paying lip service in the cooperation with ASEAN and Myanmar, constantly playing up the South China Sea issue and disrupting the regional peace and stability.

    The U.S. has overstepped the bottom line in domestic governance. Based on "Political Self-interest First" and "Vote First", the U.S. has missed the pandemic prevention and control window period time and time again, causing the number of daily infections to continuously strike new highs. The U.S. did not introspect itself. Instead, it has been shifting the blame frantically to China globally, in an attempt to deflect domestic attention and justify its negligence and dereliction of duty. In U.S., racial discrimination, the gap between the rich and the poor, political disunity and other social problems have become prominent, none of which has been seriously resolved. As the Chinese idiom goes, covering one's ears whilst stealing a bell. How could U.S. expect to cover up its own scars by slandering and discrediting China?

    The U.S. has regained the notorious "McCarthyist bigotry" and outdated "Cold War mindset" on its current China policy, and deliberately stoked ideological oppositions, breaking through the baseline of international law and basic norms of international relations. China will never be driven by a few American anti-China forces, and will firmly defend its legitimate interests and dignity.

    Hong Kong is China's territory. It is entirely China's internal affairs for the Chinese government to plug the loopholes in national security and issue the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). In order to continue to use Hong Kong to engage in anti-China actions, the U.S. repeatedly and maliciously slanders and discredits the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, and even insists on signing the so-called Hong Kong Autonomy Bill into law. This is a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and a blasphemy against the common will of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots. Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong, and the U.S. has no right to make irresponsible remarks.

    On the South China Sea issue, the U.S. breaks its public commitment of not taking a position on the South China Sea sovereignty issue. The U.S., out of the sinister intention of driving a wedge between China and other relevant countries, unashamedly accuses other countries of not complying with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which itself refuses to ratify. Is the U.S. government ashamed of its conduct?

    The U.S. repeatedly emphasizes Myanmar's sovereignty and development. We can't help asking, has the US really respected Myanmar's sovereignty? Over the years, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Myanmar in political, economic, military and other fields, which not only seriously hindered Myanmar's economic and social development, but also greatly affected Myanmar's exchanges with other countries. The U.S. has been repeatedly pushing the United Nations Security Council to adopt the Resolutions on Myanmar, intentionally ignoring Myanmar's efforts on the Rakhine Issue while continuously pressuring Myanmar on it. Isn't this a naked interference in Myanmar's internal affairs?

    China always adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in international exchanges, respects Myanmar's choice of development path in line with its own national conditions, and firmly supports Myanmar in multilateral occasions such as the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council, to help Myanmar safeguard its sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests. We believe justice always prevails.

    How much help has the U.S. provided for Myanmar to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic? During the pandemic, the U.S. announced to provide assistance for Myanmar for many times. However it turns out to be "empty checks" in the end. How many masks, test reagents, protective suits has the US provide for Myanmar? On the contrary, as always, China stands with Myanmar in the same boat and has been offering sincere assistance to help Myanmar fight against the pandemic.

    The Chinese government, the People's Liberation Army, Chinese enterprises and NGOs have provided many batches of anti-pandemic materials for Myanmar, including more than 200,000 test reagents, nearly 60,000 sets of protective suits, more than 6.5 million pieces of masks and 35 ventilators. China also sent three batches of medical experts to Myanmar to share experience in fighting against the pandemic, and help Myanmar improve its capacity and level of pandemic prevention and management. The U.S. will never succeed in discrediting China by stigmatizing China-Myanmar cooperation against the pandemic.

    The U.S. has maliciously slandered and smeared China's major investment projects in Myanmar, even instigated civil social organizations to thwart China's projects in Myanmar, attempting to interfere with China-Myanmar cooperation and sow discords between the two peoples. The U.S. does not want to see the development of China-Myanmar friendship and cooperation. If the U.S. plots succeed, it shall ultimately be the Myanmar people who suffer the most. China is committed to promoting practical cooperation with Myanmar on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit. The two sides are strengthening cooperation in the fields such as transportation, energy and production capacity, which Myanmar needs urgently for its development.

    China will further expand the imports of Myanmar agricultural, fishery and livestock products, aiming to enjoy prosperity together with the Myanmar people. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have not only established the China-Myanmar "fast-track lane" for necessary bilateral personnel exchanges, but also ensured the smooth and orderly progress of major cooperation projects, on a way to boost the development of Myanmar's economy and people's livelihood. At present, there is neither cross-border transmission of COVID-19 cases nor suspension of major practical cooperation projects between China and Myanmar. China's efforts to this end are there for all to see.

    Dark clouds won't obscure the sun, and actions speak louder than words. China and Myanmar are close neighbors enjoying a deep bond of cultural and people-to-people affinity. The two peoples have begun their friendly exchanges since ancient times, forming a profound and unique Pauk-Phaw friendship. The friendly cooperation between the two countries will stand the test of time and will not be affected by any single incident at any single moment. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Myanmar. At the invitation of Myanmar President U Win Myint, President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to Myanmar at the beginning of 2020, which has achieved a historic success. Leaders from both countries have agreed to build a China-Myanmar community with a shared future, ushering China-Myanmar relation into a new era.

    At present, the two countries are working together to steadily push forward the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, achieving high-quality and sustainable common development, so as to meet the expectations and pursuits for a better life of the two peoples. The two sides are working together to safeguard the peace and stability of the region. China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting Myanmar's peace process and national reconciliation on the basis of respecting Myanmar's own will. The two sides are further strengthening people-to-people exchanges and cultural cooperation, and will continue to hold activities celebrating the 70th anniversary of China-Myanmar diplomatic ties and the China-Myanmar Year of Culture and Tourism, so as to enhance mutual understanding and people-to-people ties of the two countries. The two sides have effectively conducted cooperation of jointly prevent and control the pandemic. We appreciate Myanmar's support to China in fighting against the pandemic and will continue to provide assistance to Myanmar for its fighting against the pandemic according to its needs. China fully supports Myanmar in achieving its "leaving no one behind" goal. China and Myanmar are committed to strengthening coordination of jointly opposing external interference, deepen mutual understanding and support on major issues concerning each other's sovereignty, security and development interests, so as to build a fairer and more equitable international order and a community with a shared future for mankind.

    As a Myanmar saying goes, insects cannot destroy Ivory. The attempts of some Americans to stigmatize China-Myanmar relations are doomed to fail, just like an ant trying to shake a giant tree. China will work together with Myanmar to stride down the China-Myanmar "Gold and Silver Road", and to jointly write a new chapter for China-Myanmar friendly cooperation in a new era.