China sees red after US Intel chief's comments, says Ratcliffe 'continues to repeat lies'

China on Thursday hit back at the United States after US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe dubbed the country as "greatest threat to America". Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called it a "hodgepodge of lies" saying it is another move by the United States to discredit China by playing up the Chinese threat. Hua Chunying, during a regular press conference, also accused the US of engaging in "Cold War mentality". 

"I think this is yet another hodgepodge of lies that the US government has been cooking up lately," Hua Chunying said in a press conference on Friday. 

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'Greatest threat to America'

John Ratcliffe, in an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, had called China the "greatest threat" to the US democracy and other free nations across the world since World War II. Ratcliffe accused China of using its resources to influence lawmakers in the United States. Ratcliffe's remark follows similar comments by officials in the US intelligence community and top politicians in the Trump administration. 

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William Evanina, from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, on Thursday, warned that China would now re-direct campaigns to the incoming Biden administration, adding the Chinese were also focusing on people close to the President-elect and those close to officials in his new administration. 

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The United States intelligence community had warned prior to the election that China is trying hard to influence the election result. The US has also accused China of trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research by carrying out cyberattacks targeting American firms since the beginning of the outbreak. Friday's exchange is the latest war of words between the two most powerful economies in the world, whose relations have been strained in the past couple of years, especially since Trump took over and launched a trade war against the Communist State. 

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