Beijing, China - A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry has lashed out at Washington during a daily press conference following comments made by US President Joe Biden.

In comments made on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized the Quad for being "a tool the US uses to contain and perpetuate US hegemony."

According to Lin, the US is using a "China threat narrative" to contain China and damage its relationships with regional partners while continuing to strengthen US military and security presence in the Indo-Pacific.

"The US needs to get rid of its obsession with perpetuating its supremacy and containing China," spokesperson Lin said during his daily press conference. He further implored Washington to "stop using regional countries as its tool."

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"Ganging up to form exclusive groupings undermines the mutual trust and cooperation between regional countries, runs counter to the overwhelming trend of pursuing peace, development, cooperation, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and is bound to fail," Lin said.

The statement comes after Biden was caught in a hot mic gaffe telling Quad leaders that China was "testing" the US and its allies.

"China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region," Biden said. "And it's true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia, and the Taiwan Straits."

Over the weekend, President Biden hosted a farewell summit of the Quad. The group, made up of the US, Australia, Japan, and India, issued a joint statement in which they expressed concern over the situation in the East and South China Seas.

While Quad leaders chose not to directly mention China in the statement and throughout the summit, the undercurrent was clear to Beijing.

Addressing US claims that it was not targeting China in the joint statement, spokesperson Lin Jian expressed anger over the situation and implied dishonesty on the part of Quad leaders.

"Though the US claims that it does not target China, the first topic of the summit is about China and China was made an issue throughout the event. The US is lying through its teeth and even the US media does not believe it," Lin said.