BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The so-called "China Initiative" was purely political manipulation and another example of McCarthyism in the United States, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here on Friday.

A recent report issued by Johns Hopkins University in the United States disclosed that in the fall of 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice officially launched the "China Initiative," requiring 94 regional judicial departments to file at least one or two lawsuits against China each year. So far, U.S. judicial departments have launched more than 2,000 investigations against China.

When asked to comment on this report at a daily news briefing, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said it indicated that the so-called "China Initiative" was purely political manipulation and another example of McCarthyism in the United States.

"So where is the respect for the rule of law?" said Wang, noting the U.S. judicial organs were following political instructions and a presumption of guilt instead of basing their actions on facts.

"When anti-China becomes a target and task that must be completed, we are not surprised that so many so-called espionage, theft, and other crimes have been forced on Chinese individuals and institutions."

"We urge the U.S. to abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, stop political manipulation, stop disrupting regular bilateral cooperation in science and technology as well as people-to-people exchanges," Wang said.

He said the abuse of judicial power to suppress Chinese students and researchers in the United States should be stopped and the legitimate rights and interests of these people should be protected.