US Accuses Russia, China of 'Eroding American Security'

The U.S. government has released its new National Security Strategy, which claims that China and Russia "challenge American power, influence and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity."

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Today, a day after the release, Russia and China responded to the U.S. government's approach to national security. 

Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, said they can't agree "with an attitude that sees our country as a threat" and criticized the strategy for showing "an unwillingness to give up the idea of a unipolar world, moreover, an insistent unwillingness, disregard for a multipolar world."

In a similar tone of disapproval, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, urged the U.S. side to "stop distorting China's strategic intentions and to abandon outmoded notions such as the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game," stressing cooperation as the best choice for U.S.-China relations.  

In a press conference after the strategy's release, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Russia and China as a rivals with which he would attempt to "build a great partnership." However, the document asserts that competitors such as China "steal U.S. intellectual property," accusing Russia of interfering in the "domestic political affairs of countries around the world" and charges both countries with "fielding military capabilities designed to deny America access in times of crisis and to contest our ability to operate freely in critical commercial zones during peacetime."

These remarks and the lack of specific policies to deal with alleged China and Russia "attempts to erode American security" feed uncertainties on what to expect of U.S. relations with two major geopolitical players. 

On Latin America, the strategy identifies Venezuela and Cuba as Russian and Chinese-backed "anachronistic leftist authoritarian models" that will continue to be "isolated" and encourages "other free states in the hemisphere to support this shared endeavor."