THE Chinese embassy in Jamaica has come out swinging against United States Ambassador Donald Tapia, describing his recent comments about a Chinese company in business with new local lottery firm, Mahoe Gaming, as “baseless and discriminatory”.

In fact, spokesperson for the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Jamaica, Xia Shaowu, has encouraged Tapia “to focus on his own business and matters at home with gross racial injustices, the spike in COVID-19 cases and the contracting economy”.

“Given the challenging dynamics of the times, it would bode well for him to do more work conducive to strengthening the bilateral friendship and cooperation between the US and Jamaica,” Xia said in a statement.

Tapia, earlier this week cited national security concerns for objecting to the use of Chinese firm Genlot Game Technology as the back-end provider for Mahoe Gaming after the lottery company was granted a licence by the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission.

The US ambassador is insisting that the Chinese company be thoroughly vetted to ensure that it does not endanger Jamaica’s national security or has access to the personal information of the millions of Americans who visit the island each year.

According to Xia, Tapia is using claims about national security “as a cover to attack and repress” Genlot Game Technology.

“His allegations about the Chinese company are sheerly baseless and discriminatory,” he said, adding that the reason behind the US ambassador’s remarks is that the company is Chinese and top-tier in its field.

“Over the past 30 years, Chinese companies have been cooperating with local partners all over the world. Not a single cybersecurity incident like those revealed by Edward Snowden or WikiLeaks has there been. Not a single tapping or surveillance operation like PRISM, Equation Group or ECHELON has there been. And not a single country has produced evidence of so-called threatening national security by products and services provided by Chinese companies,” Xia insisted.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson added: “It is injudicious, as an ambassador, to repeatedly make indiscreet remarks on the internal affairs of his host country and its foreign relations with other countries, and should not be overlooked or tolerated.”

Xia said the People’s Republic of China is proud to say that no country, organisation or individual can threaten or coerce a independent sovereign country to do anything against its will.

For quite a while, some American politicians, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are driven by strong ideological bias and have been incessantly pressuring other countries, making unsolicited comments, and openly coercing them into following its own will, he said.

“This is blatant imperialism on full display,” Xia said.

He continued: “The US maintains that it is about fairness and reciprocity, but what does it continually do? When other countries’ businesses have a competitive edge, American politicians find measures to discredit their legitimacy and resort to state power to suppress them. They would go to any length to subdue competing interests, violate market economy and fair competition principles.

“We hope all countries will commit to uphold a fair, just, open, and non-discriminatory business environment, and reject nationality discrimination in global cooperation as firmly as they reject racism,” Xia stated,

In a release over the weekend, Michelle Myers Mayne, chair of Mahoe Gaming, defended its choice of the Chinese firm to conduct its back office operations.

“We sought a world-rated provider of lottery technology to allow us to maximise enjoyment and improve the experience for the Jamaican consumer. Mahoe will offer consumers a proven system from Genlot, the number one partner in the gaming industry in China,” said Myers Mayne.