Kathmandu. China and the United States of America have locked horns frequently over matters of bilateral trade and issues surrounding the South China Sea. Monday saw the titans clashing yet again as Beijing leveled criticisms against Washington claiming that it has been a leading cause of environmental degradation.

The U.S. Department of State had previously issued a lengthy fact sheet on September 25, detailing “China’s Environmental Abuses”. It stated that while the Chinese people suffered the brunt of Beijing’s actions, the entire world economy and the health of all the people were negatively affected from the damage it caused to the environment. It highlighted the points on degradation of air quality, excessive greenhouse emissions, illegal wildlife trafficking and ineffective management of waste. A spotlight was also put upon the Belt and Road initiative, noting that the projects under the ambitious plan did not meet up to the international standards and moreover, hindered the sustainable development of other nations.

The report which included the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s statement read, “Too much of the Chinese Communist Party’s economy is built on willful disregard for air, land, and water quality. The Chinese people–and the world–deserve better.” Morgan Ortagus, a spokesperson for the department later in a press release on September 27 commented on Beijing’s “reckless and provocative militarization” in the South China Sea, speaking on the issue of China’s “empty promises.”

Now Beijing has made it abundantly clear as to where it considers the blame should lay for concerns emerging from the negative environmental impacts. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson from China, Wang Wenbin in questioning Washington’s move to back out of the Paris Agreement regarded the U.S. as the “biggest destroyer of international environmental cooperation.” Wang also advised the U.S.  “to stop political manipulation and malicious slander, and to do more practical work and less trouble for the global environment.”

On the ongoing disagreement regarding the South China Sea, the spokesperson mentioned that “The international community and regional countries must be highly vigilant and resolutely oppose the sinister plot of some U.S. warmongers to sow chaos in the South China Sea and East Asia.”