This file photo shows Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian at a regular press conference on March 5, 2020, in Beijing, China. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FOREIGN MINISTRY OF THE PRC)

BEIJING - A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday that any attempt to prevent countries from conducting normal exchanges and cooperation through pressure or coercion is doomed to fail.

China believes all countries, big or small, are entitled to independently developing foreign relations based on their own interests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press conference in response to a US official's remarks urging Sri Lanka to make "difficult but necessary decisions," especially on the issue concerning China's influence on the country.

Zhao said the US official's remarks were "full of Cold War mindset and hegemonic mentality," which fully exposed the persistent practice of the United States recklessly interfering in other countries' domestic and foreign policies and forcing small and medium-sized countries to take sides.

Zhao said China and Sri Lanka are traditionally friendly neighbors and for a long time, the two countries have developed their relations based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and carried out friendly cooperation on the basis of consultation on an equal footing, mutual benefit and win-win results, delivering tangible benefits to the two peoples.

ALSO READ: US urged to stop politicizing exchanges

"China will work with Sri Lanka to resolutely expand and deepen the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries," the spokesperson said.

China believes all countries, big or small, are entitled to independently developing foreign relations based on their own interests, Zhao said.

"Any attempt to prevent countries from conducting normal exchanges and cooperation by ways of exerting pressure or coercion is doomed to fail. They are destined to be cast aside by history and reduced to a laughing stock of the international community," Zhao added.