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A recent protest against a lithium mining project broke out in Serbia, with demonstrators filling the streets of capital Belgrade. They reportedly obstructed the tracks at two railway stations in the city, and briefly halted traffic on a major highway.

While Serbian government believes that the mine is an opportunity for economic development, protesters say it would cause pollution on the Jadar Valley.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters that although the main protest was done democratically, the blockage of traffic on the highway amounted to "terror of the minority over the majority."

"It is part of the hybrid approach" designed to topple the government, Vucic said, adding that he had been tipped off by Russian intelligence services that a "mass unrest and a coup" were being prepared in Serbia by unspecified Western powers that wish to oust him from power.

Analysts said that under the environmental protection slogans are probably subversive activities by the West, in an attempt to stage a coup d'état in Serbia and install pro-American opposition forces in power.

And this protest, similar to the previous ones, was ostensibly spontaneous, organized by Serbian citizens and ENGOs (environmental non-governmental organizations), but in reality the influence of a few Western countries including the US was lurking behind the scenes, analysts noted.
Whitewashed 'color revolution'?

Earlier this month, tens of thousands took to the streets in Belgrade against a government-approved lithium mining project in western Serbia's Jadar Valley. It is a cooperative project between the Serbian government and Rio Tinto, a British-Australian multinational metals and mining corporation.

The protest, which Western media outlets described as "one of the biggest in recent years" in the country, was allegedly organized by the country's ENGOs and environmentalists concerned about the project's potential impact on the environment.

According to Western media, the protest seemed reasonable and reflected public sentiment, as many mainstream Western news outlets shone the spotlight on a protester named Zlatko Kokanovic in their stories, introducing him as an individual who loves environmental protection.

In a Reuters story on August 9, for instance, Kokanovic was described as "a 48-year-old Serbian farmer" and "a father of five." An Associated Press (AP) story on the same day used a similar description, calling Kokanovic a 48-year-old farmer who has five children. Another individual, Marijana Petkovic, has also been frequently covered in some stories as a "local resident" or "neighbor" of a villager close to Jadar Valley.

However, the two names above are president and key member of the ENGO "Ne damo Jadar" respectively, a main initiator of the protest, the Global Times found. In a story published by Belgrade-based newspaper Danas, Kokanovic "called on all citizens of Serbia to come to the protest in Belgrade."

Rather than making their roles in the protest public, some Western media outlets seemingly preferred to carefully portray them as ordinary citizens who are purely passionate about environmental protection and who happened to participate in the demonstration. Clearly, they made every effort to depict this riot as a spontaneous act by the Serbian people based on their will.

But various signs have indicated that, as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on August 11, this was no ordinary protest but rather "part of Western-backed 'hybrid' warfare" against his government. "We knew everything in detail," AP cited Vucic as saying. "You think you have surprised someone… we have always been restrained, without violence we ensured order in the country, without a problem."

According to a TASS article published on August 10, Vucic told the media that Moscow had warned Belgrade of preparations for mass riots initiated by representatives of Western countries. "Today, we received official information from the Russian Federation," said Vucic. He added that the information was provided through formal channels, and the Security and Information Agency - Serbia's intelligence body - was responsible for that.

The TASS article also noted that, Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti earlier reported that members of Serbia's opposition were ready to take advantage of the pro-Western protests in Belgrade planned for August 10, "to seize the presidential palace, eliminate the head of state, and launch a similar scenario as in Ukraine."

It has obviously gone far beyond just a simple environmental protest. In an interview with news agency RIA Novosti, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin implied that the nature of the protest was a color revolution and foreign interference.

"The lithium protests are not so much about the environment. Their goal is to overthrow the government," said Vulin, according to a Sputnik article on August 12.

Connections with US

Some of the ENGOs involved in the protests against the lithium mining project actually have connections with the US, although such connections are not well known to the public, the Global Times discovered.

Ekoloski Ustanak, or "Ecological Uprising," for instance, is one of the most active organizations engaged in the protests against the lithium-mining project. Early in June, Ecological Uprising reportedly "called for mobilization" of Serbia's opposition parties, civic environmental organizations, and activists "for a joint front" against the project, according to local media reports.

The biggest funders of environmentalist groups are "certainly, from the United States of America," Serbian President of the National Assembly Ana Brnabic once said in January 2022, according to website Balkan Green Energy News.

Mass protests were organized by the Ecological Uprising and other groups to demonstrate against the same lithium mine in December, 2021, Balkan Green Energy News reported.

"I lack words to describe the hypocrisy of foreigners that finance these organizations and these foreigners," Brnabic criticized. She listed some of the biggest US funders - the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, the Open Society Foundations, the NED, and Edge Funders Alliance. Some on the list are disreputable veterans of inciting color revolutions.

"The infiltration of American influence in Serbia is often evident in environmental protection matters. By providing support to environmental organizations at a relatively low cost, the US is able to achieve significant results efficiently. The so-called NGOs that represent American interests can take a moral high ground in shaping agendas and garnering support from local pro-American factions," Ju Weiwei, deputy director of the Central and Eastern Europe Office, Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

An anonymous scholar who has conducted multiple research trips to Serbia told the Global Times that American support for opposition forces is almost an "open secret."

Attacking Chinese projects

For the ENGOs in Serbia, Chinese observers may be more familiar with Tvrdjava ("Fortress"), a health and environmental NGO that hyped the "carcinogenic Chinese-owned steel company" rumor in late 2021.

A Reuters report in November 2021 cited data obtained by Tvrdjava, alleging that Smederevo Steelworks in central Serbia caused more pollution, after being purchased by China's HeSteel Group (HBIS) in 2016. Tvrdjava said that "the municipality (Smederevo) of around 100,000 people reported 6,866 cancer cases in 2019, up from 1,738 in 2011."

Chinese media outlets later refuted the accusation, and provided solid data proving that China's takeover didn't increase, but largely decreased, the pollution emitted by Smederevo Steelwork.

It's worth noting that, Tvrdjava, "as Reuters mentioned, is found to have a connection with the USAID," the Xinhua News Agency reported in January 2022. The Washington-based agency has a bad reputation of interfering in other countries' internal affairs under the White House's instructions, said Xinhua.

The US' "white gloves" have long been colluding with some Serbian NGOs, in defaming China and Chinese-invested projects. "NED-backed Serbian NGOs coordinated with CNN's Serbia branch to fabricate China-related fake news, slandering projects undertaken by the Chinese side and hyping up so-called environmental protection, labor, and corruption issues," pointed out a report released by Chinese Foreign Ministry on August 9.

The NED's website showed it funded various Serbian NGOs in 2021. With the NED's backing, some recipient organizations were found slandering Chinese-invested companies and projects in Serbia.

The "Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia" was one of the recipients on NED's list, receiving $59,000 in 2021. In a report it released in 2022 that specifically attacked China-Serbia relations, the "committee" groundlessly accused Chinese employers of "inhumane and humiliating treatment."

All these tricks just expose that, the US is dissatisfied with the significant practical investment and cooperation between China and Serbia. As a result, they have allegedly influenced some local opposition forces to oppose Chinese investment in Serbia and undermine the projects involving China, Ju said.

Ju, who had been in Serbia before for field research, discovered that some individuals, despite knowing the lack of evidence in their lawsuits, persisted in suing Chinese companies under the guise of environmental concerns. He noted that it is not ruled out that there may be support from other foreign forces behind this.

This tactic, commonly employed by American-backed NGOs, aims to disrupt Chinese companies under the pretext of human rights and labor issues, tarnishing their reputation in the process, said Ju.

However, due to the current Serbian government's commitment to an independent foreign policy and stable diplomatic ties with the EU, China, Russia, and other nations, along with Chinese companies' adherence to legal and ethical business practices, these attempts to tarnish our reputation are unlikely to succeed. It is evident that Chinese companies and the Chinese economy have greatly enhanced the quality of life for the local population, the expert stressed.

A total of 20 Australian companies, organizations and institutions, including a number of universities, are attending the ongoing 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, as they look for opportunities to boost cooperation amid improving ties.

The attendance to CIFTIS by Australian entities in 2024 has improved markedly from last year, amid an improvement of bilateral relations highlighted by a series of recent high-level interactions between officials of the two countries after years of frayed ties.
At the CIFTIS, Dale Pinto, global president of CPA Australia, a global accountant organization, told the Global Times that the relationship with China, Australia’s leading trade partner, is “absolutely critical.”

“It is really important to us, in the opening ceremony on Thursday, to hear that China is ready to increase its collaboration and cooperation [with the world],” Pinto said.

According to Pinto, many of the challenges people face today cannot be addressed by one country alone and needs collaboration, such as emission control, and that’s what makes the CIFTIS platform, which reinforces people-to-people exchange and cooperation, significant.

“We like to work with China. China is very advanced in many ways and can help Australia,” Pinto said, noting that in other areas, Australia can help China as well. “It is a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Australian representatives at the CIFTIS noted that a series of trade talks, high-level communications and official visits in the past two years sent really positive signals that the dialogue is really moving in a positive direction. And Australian companies and institutions are looking for opportunities in enhancing bilateral cooperation in several areas, including international education, green financing, digital transformation, and technological innovation.

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers is visiting China later this month, according to Bloomberg, in another high-level visit by officials of the two countries.

“Those high-level visits between the two sides have sent a signal to our business communities that we are talking and we are engaging. And that's really important,” Dominic Trindade, minister (commercial) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Trade in services from Australia is quite diverse. A very large element of that is in the visitor economy – tourists, students, people visiting family and friends, and short-term business visitors. Those were affected during the pandemic years, according to the trade official.

“We'd like to see those links, those strong people-to-people links continue to build, but also looking at new avenues, new services, particularly in the technology areas, and in those areas around sustainability, environmental services [at the CIFTIS],” Trindade said.

“Australia’s multi-year attendance to the CIFTIS attests to the long tradition of cooperation between our two countries in services trade. Also, we will have a range of other events during the next 12 months that will culminate in Australia being the CIFTIS country of honor in 2025,” said Trindade.

Australia is China’s seventh-largest trading partner, and China has become Australia's largest services export partner in 2023, public data showed.

Australia’s services exports to China surged by more than A$5 billion ($3.36 billion) in 2023, reaching A$14.7 billion, accounting for 12.9 percent of the total service exports in the year.

Media

The Forum was attended by 1,515 media representatives from Russia and 10 other countries, namely (Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UK, Vietnam, Italy, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Japan.

Agreements

At the Forum, 313 agreements were signed for a total of RUBLE 5.569 trillion (approximately $61 billion, including agreements whose amount is not a commercial secret, and non-public agreements between the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation and the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic for a total of RUBLE 3.825 trillion), including 27 agreements with foreign organizations, 15 with ministries and agencies, and two during the Falcon Day International Forum. 

Additionally, the Roscongress Foundation and RUSAL, Russia's aluminum giant, reached an agreement to offset the carbon footprint of the EEF 2024. The company donated part of the carbon units it received as a result of a project to protect forests against fires in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The carbon footprint of the EEF 2024 will be offset using the Thread of Nature platform, which can conduct transactions with carbon units and quota fulfillment units based on a marketplace principle.

Far East street exhibition

On the embankment of Ajax Bay, 11 regions of the Far East presented their key projects and achievements in various fields. The Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation pavilion and Sports Arena hosted the “Developing the Far East!” joint exposition of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation and the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, while the Tourism.RF regional development corporation had its own pavilion as well.

The Falcon House pavilion introduced guests to birds of the falcon family, their habitats, behavioural features, threats to the population, and measures being taken by the government to preserve these predators. For the second year, the exhibition included the Arab Village exposition, which was timed to coincide with the second Falcon Day International Forum. The exposition is dedicated to the culture and specific features of the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, for the first time, the Primorsky Territory opened a Fish Market at the Far East Street exhibition, where guests were presented with Far Eastern cuisine, including signature dishes made from pollock, scallop, crab, and mussels.

The “Time to Live in the Far East” flash mob was held as part of the opening ceremony.

The exhibition was organized by the Roscongress Foundation with the support from the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian President in the Far Eastern Federal District.

In addition, the “Welcome to the Far East” exhibition took place with the attendance of nine federal executive bodies and the Republic of Tatarstan.

BRICS Creative Innovation Forum

The EEF also hosted the BRICS Creative Innovation Forum, which was organized by the Innosocium Foundation, the social platform of the Roscongress Foundation. Nine discussion sessions were held on how to develop a human-based approach to innovation that combines consumer demand, technological capabilities, and the needs of businesses. In light of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship, all the main focuses of the Forum programme were prepared with an emphasis on how to thoroughly intensify interaction with BRICS countries in culture and art. The key event was the plenary session “New Russian Cultural Code: The Art of Preserving, Rethinking, and Transforming.”

The 14th Beijing Science Festival, in conjunction with the 2024 Beijing National Science Popularization Day, will illuminate the city from September 15 to 25. Hosted by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology (BAST), this year's event will take place across six key venues, offering an engaging and interactive science experience for everyone.

The main venue, the Beijing Science Center, will feature four major areas with themes including “Scientist Spirit,” “Technology and Culture,” “Science Education,” and “Science Experience.” A standout exhibit will be dedicated to the spirit of scientists. Spanning 1,200 square meters and opening on September 15, this exhibition aims to inspire patriotism and national pride through the stories of past and present scientists.

Another key highlight will be the exhibition on technologies along Beijing's Central Axis, recently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July. This exhibit will explore the history of science and technology in Beijing, catering to audiences of all ages. Additionally, interactive experiences will focus on traditional architecture and cultural crafts, immersing attendees in China's rich heritage.

The Science Education area will target youth with over 200 engaging programs, including workshops, lectures, and hands-on activities. The Science Popularization Experience area will use outdoor spaces to spotlight topics such as deep-earth exploration, marine resources, cybersecurity, commercial aerospace, and artificial intelligence.

Five auxiliary locations will host specialized events: the National Natural History Museum of China, the China Railway Museum, Temple of Heaven Park, Gulou Community, and Shougang Park. These sites will offer unique activities such as bird-watching on the Central Axis, painting traditional architectural designs, and exploring the evolution of timekeeping technologies from ancient sundials to modern atomic clocks.

According to BAST, the festival will feature over 600 science exhibitions, lectures, and other activities. More than 1,000 science-related venues will host science activities, exhibitions, and lectures. Additionally, all 16 districts of Beijing will organize regional main events for National Science Popularization Day.

China Rural Revitalization magazine has published a series of articles on the rapid development and transformation of rural China. The articles reflect the arduous efforts of rural revitalization across the country, which is an important and genuine solution to China's rural economic development. In the future, articles selected from this series will be published.

Haojiaqiao is a small village located on the Loess Plateau in Suide county, Yulin, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The village has gained recognition for the development of its rural collective economic cooperative, and it has made great efforts to develop key industries such as agriculture and tourism, through initiatives like fruit and vegetable greenhouse projects and orchards.

In recent years, the village has seen improvements in infrastructure and income growth, supported by government policies aimed at sustainable development. These efforts include leveraging the village's historical and cultural resources to boost its economy while modernizing agricultural practices for better productivity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to the village of Haojiaqiao on September 14, 2021, and visited the home of a villager whose family was lifted out of poverty.

Xi stressed that making villagers live a better life is the unswerving mission and aspiration of the Party. He urged the whole Party and the nation to carry forward the spirit forged in the fight against poverty to secure new and greater victories in fully building a modern socialist China.

When leaving the village, Xi expressed his hope for the villagers to continue upholding the fine traditions and make further efforts in building their village into a model of rural vitalization.

Targeted measures

At the entrance of the Haojiaqiao village, there stands a large stone monument bearing seven eye-catching red characters that read: "Haojiaqiao: Rural Model," embodying the revolutionary memories and history of the village.

Activating land resources has been a priority in Haojiaqiao's transformation, with careful planning required to address the issue of idle planting areas.

With the support by Party committees and local governments at all levels, Haojiaqiao village has undergone a profound reform including promoting the reform of rural collective property rights system for better allocating farmland resources and funds, in addition to establishing an economic shareholding cooperative.

Haojiaqiao has 2,800 mu (186.67 hectares) of farmland. As part of the overall plan, 2,000 mu of mountainous land is designated for the development of an ecological orchard, 300 mu of flatland for facility-based agriculture, and the remaining 500 mu is reserved for grain cultivation.

Once a role model, it remains shining today. On February 25, 2021, Haojiaqiao village was awarded a role model in China's poverty alleviation fight, during a grand gathering in Beijing to mark the nation's poverty alleviation accomplishments and honor model poverty fighters, indicating Haojiaqiao village's unwavering determination in the fight against poverty.
Transformation

The village's collective economic cooperative enlisted experts from agricultural research institutions for guidance and ultimately decided to develop fruit and vegetable greenhouses equipped with intelligent irrigation and fertilization systems, tailored to the local natural conditions.

Hao Changxiong, 56, who started to work outside Haojiaqiao village at the age of 20, signed a 15-year contract for 500 mu of apricot orchards. When the harvest season arrives, Hao is busy with meeting orders from clients nationwide.

Given the popularity of local agricultural products, Hao decided to work with tourism companies to promote Haojiaqiao's agriculture-integrated tourism, and expand his business scale.

In terms of red tourism, Haojiaqiao signed cooperation agreement with a state-owned tourism company in 2022 offering patriotic-themed training for government departments, enterprises, schools, and associations.

Haojiaqiao's unique development model, which integrates red tourism, talent training, and agricultural industry, has set the village on a path of comprehensive growth across the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. In 2023, the village's collective economic income reached 2.11 million yuan ($0.3 million), with a per capita disposable income of 21,560 yuan.

'Making further efforts'

In 2022, local government officials conducted overall on-site visits across 644 households and 1,637 residents of Haojiaqiao village, which helped them assess the income structure, family situations, development aspirations, and challenges faced by villagers, in order to put in place corresponding measures.

Haojiaqiao village has been steadily developing a comprehensive public service system, which now includes a primary school, kindergarten, senior center, clinic, service center, and supermarket.

The senior center is fully equipped with restaurants, entertainment and study rooms, a lounge, and staffed by professional chefs and caregivers. Its focus is providing meals and daily support for local senior citizens, ensuring their comfort and well-being.

The village clinic offers basic healthcare services, eliminating the need for residents to travel elsewhere for minor ailments. The primary school in the village is equipped with a computer room, laboratory, and painting and calligraphy studio, offering qualified education environment for local children.

In recent years, cooperation between East China's Zhejiang Province and African nations has steadily deepened, spanning various fields such as trade, culture, and healthcare. This reflects the high-quality advancement of the China-Africa community with a shared future.

Zhejiang has built robust people-to-people exchanges and established 31 sister-city relations with African counterparts, covering the provincial, municipal, and district levels, the Global Times learned at a press conference in Jinhua, Zhejiang, during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Educational and cultural ties have strengthened, with over 20 universities in Zhejiang collaborating with African institutions, and eight Confucius Institutes have been established in countries like Cameroon, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

Zhejiang's efforts in vocational training have benefited more than 2,800 individuals from 160 African companies.

Cultural initiatives have also flourished, with the co-production of the film Kung Fu Dream and Zhejiang's Jinhua Wu Opera Troupe frequently performing in Africa.

Medical cooperation remains a vital aspect of the partnership. For 55 consecutive years, Zhejiang has dispatched medical teams to African countries like Mali and Namibia. In 2022-23 alone, 110 medical professionals provided healthcare services to 183,800 local people, offering free clinics in remote areas and promoting traditional Chinese medicine through workshops and training sessions.

After the press conference, South African journalist Ayanda Ntuthuko Zithulele Mdluli commended the province's multifaceted contributions, saying, "The province of Zhejiang can ensure a relationship that results in economic growth, stability, and skills transfer. It is a significant development that should be applauded."

Liu Qinghai, a professor at the Zhejiang Normal University's Institute of African Studies, highlighted Zhejiang's pivotal role, noting that "Zhejiang is a highland of China-Africa cooperation, and Jinhua is the heart of collaboration. The province has worked tirelessly to deepen people-to-people ties and ensure the sustainability of China-Africa cooperation."

Zhejiang's focus on cultural understanding and strategic alignment with African nations is seen as critical to fostering long-term collaboration, driving mutual prosperity, and strengthening the China-Africa partnership in the Belt and Road Initiative, Liu told the Global Times during the press conference.

To curb China's high-tech advancements, the US has repeatedly pressured its allies including the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea to further tighten restrictions on China's access to semiconductor technology. However, discontent is growing within these countries regarding Washington's increasing demands.

On Wednesday, the chief executive of Dutch chip equipment giant ASML admitted that the US-led campaign to restrict the company's exports to customers in China in the name of national security has become more "economically motivated" over time. He acknowledged that proving these restrictions are about national security is getting harder and harder and expects push-back against US-led restrictions to grow.

This is not the first time ASML has voiced concerns about US demands. 

Christophe Fouquet, CEO of ASML, and his predecessor Peter Wennink, also voiced opposition to US' restrictions on ASML's exports of chip-making equipment to China. Similarly, Japanese and South Korean manufacturers have been at odds with their governments which have long felt pressure from US to cut closer cooperation with China. These companies fear that continuing to follow US restrictions will severely damage normal trade relations, ultimately harming their own interests.
The growing rational voices within the US' allied countries are primarily driven by concerns for their national economic interests. It also highlights the selfish nature of the US, which disregards the dissatisfaction of its allies.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that US allies have been forced to implement export restrictions due to the influence of US hegemony, but these measures have already caused significant economic harm to those nations, proving that the continued pressure from the US is unsustainable.

In fact, the US' coercion of other countries to suppress Chinese companies and limit high-tech exports to China is a form of economic coercion, entirely unrelated to "national security." Washington's allies should recognize that by acting as a "frontline" in the US' anti-China agenda, their own national interests are being hijacked by the US.

Countries like Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands have deep economic ties with China, which is viewed as a crucial, and in some cases, an irreplaceable overseas market. However, the US has been leveraging these countries' security dependencies to coerce them into adopting its restrictive policies, which are disrupting well-established global supply chains. Ultimately, these actions could harm not only US allies, but also the US itself, according to Lü.

Moreover, despite the US repeatedly emphasizing the importance of expanding its alliances, the country has failed to deliver tangible benefits to its so-called allies. For the US, allies are merely expected to serve its own interests, and its restrictive measures have already caused losses for them.

Take South Korea as an example: in 2023, South Korea recorded a trade deficit of $18 billion with China, marking its first shortfall with the country in 31 years. According to South Korean media, the primary factor behind this shift is the decline in exports of products, such as semiconductors, due to export restrictions imposed at US' request.

The US has repeatedly pressured its allies to restrict exports to China, but has never shown any willingness or capability to offer compensation. Lü said neither the US' claim to strengthen the transatlantic partnership, nor the so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework with its allies includes any commitment from the US to grant its allies greater access to its market. This means that the US' allies will have to bear the economic consequences for US interests.

Ironically, although the US has been trying hard to restrict China's high-tech development even at the expense of its allies' interests and the global supply chain, it not only hasn't achieved its desired outcome, but only to find itself surrounded by discontented allies. By selfishly fostering division and confrontation to contain China, the US is now shooting itself in the foot.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Gambian President Adama Barrow, who is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

China has submitted a request to Canada for consultations at the WTO on the additional tariffs Ottawa decided to impose on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and steel and aluminum products, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Friday.

China urges Canada to abide by WTO rules and immediately correct its wrong doings following its announcement of a 100-percent tariff on China-made EVs and a 25-percent tariff on imported steel and aluminum products from China.

Such moves are typical unilateralist and trade protectionist approaches that seriously undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system and disrupt global industrial and supply chains, MOFCOM said, adding that China is firmly against it.

China's latest move came after MOFCOM on Tuesday announced decisive measures against Canada, including plans to initiate dispute settlement proceedings at the WTO and launch an anti-discriminaton probe.

"The submission underscores China's firm commitment to multilateralism, and shows that China seeks to resolve trade issues with Canada under WTO rules in a bid to avoid the escalation of trade frictions," said Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The Chinese Embassy in Canada expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to Canada's latest decision to impose additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs and other products, vowing to take "necessary measures" to safeguard Chinese firms' legitimate rights and interests.

As for the dispute at the WTO, Canada is unlikely to win since it's unreasonable for it to impose additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other products, Zhou said.

"Chinese new-energy products are a good choice for Canada to fulfill its climate change commitment and diversify its imports," Zhou said, noting that ordinary Canadian consumers have to pay higher prices without Chinese products.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, on Thursday refuted baseless accusations by some US politicians, noting its batteries pose no threat to US national security.

The accusations by the US politicians will harm normal China-US economic and trade cooperation and the well-being of ordinary American users, observers said. They called for the US to strengthen cooperation with China, which will only bring benefits to the US.

Two top US Republican lawmakers, namely Marco Rubio, the vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, and John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, on Wednesday called on the US Defense Department to add Chinese battery maker CATL to a restricted list of companies, claiming that "reliance on CATL batteries endangers US national security," Reuters reported.

"CATL's battery products pose no more of a threat to national security than a brick," the company said.

CATL's battery products have helped millions of American families and small businesses during power outages caused by natural disasters, extreme weather, and grid instability. Battery products that CATL sell in the US market are passive products - without any communications hardware or software that allows for remote access or control, it said. 

CATL said it is not directly competing with any US companies. By working closely with American partners, CATL is assisting US companies with strengthening their competitiveness to turn out reliable and competitively priced products.

CATL is not engaged in any military-related activities, the company said, stressing that it was privately founded and became a publicly-listed company in 2018.

"Out of their Cold War mentality, a number of US politicians tend to play up the narrative of 'national security' threat to crack down on Chinese high-tech companies," He Weiwen, senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Thursday.

He said the groundless US accusations will harm normal China-US economic and trade cooperation, and negatively impact the well-being of ordinary Americans.

Instead of continuing to expand its "small yard, high fence" approach, the US should sit down with China to seek practical cooperation, which will bring sufficient benefits for the US side, He said.