On the 29th, representatives of Russia and Ukraine held the fifth round of negotiations in Istanbul. The Russian representative said that this round of talks is meaningful. The representative of Uzbekistan said that Uzbekistan proposed to determine the status of non-bloc and non-nuclear states in the form of permanent neutrality. What is the spokesperson’s comment on this?
Wang Wenbin: We have noticed that both Russia and Ukraine have released positive signals during the negotiations. We have always maintained that dialogue and negotiation are the only correct way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. We call on Russia and Ukraine to stick to the general direction of dialogue and negotiation, meet each other halfway, reach a consensus on a political solution, avoid further escalation of the situation, and restore peace at an early date. Under the current situation, the international community should speak more words that are conducive to dialogue and negotiation, do more things that are conducive to dialogue and negotiation, and support Russia and Ukraine to continue the negotiations, negotiate results, and negotiate peace. We must be vigilant and prevent fueling the fire, intensifying conflicts, and setting up obstacles and increasing resistance to solving problems through diplomatic means.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can China be the guarantor of the Russia-Ukraine peace agreement?
Wang Wenbin: China supports and encourages all diplomatic efforts that are conducive to a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, and is happy to see Russia and Ukraine have dialogue and negotiation. China has always advocated attaching importance to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and is willing to work with the international community to advocate a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, and support the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism. China has been doing its best for peace, and will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine in its own way, and work with all parties in the general direction of seeking an early settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and restoring peace in Europe as soon as possible.
About the China-EU Leaders’ Meeting. The EU supports Ukraine and condemns Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, while China refuses to condemn Russia. In view of this, what is China’s expectation for the outcome of the China-EU leaders’ meeting to be held this Friday?
Wang Wenbin: As agreed by China and the EU, Premier Li Keqiang will hold the 23rd China-EU Leaders’ Meeting via video link with European Council President Michel and European Commission President Von der Leyen on April 1.
The China-EU Leaders’ Meeting has been successfully held 22 times, playing an important strategic leading role in the development of China-EU relations and bilateral dialogue and cooperation. During the meeting, President Xi Jinping will meet with European Council President Michel and European Commission President von der Leyen via video. Premier Li Keqiang will co-chair the meeting with Chairman Michel and Chairman von der Leyen via video.
The current international situation is volatile and changeable, and uncertainty has risen significantly. China and the EU are the two major forces that maintain world peace, the two major markets that promote common development, and the two major civilizations that promote human progress. The two sides should strengthen strategic communication, enhance mutual trust, and build consensus on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win results. Carry out dialogue and cooperation to promote the sustainable and healthy development of China-EU relations and inject stability and positive energy into the complex and turbulent international situation.
On the issue of “condemnation”, we have stated China’s position on many occasions, and to dwell on this issue is to fall behind the situation. We hope that the international community will say more things that are conducive to dialogue and negotiation, do more things that are conducive to dialogue and negotiation, and make joint efforts for an early peaceful and political settlement of the Ukrainian issue, instead of setting up obstacles and adding resistance.
According to reports, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Anhui today. According to Russian media reports, Lavrov informed the Chinese side of the progress of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine and the negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine. Can you provide more details of this meeting?
Wang Wenbin: I have previously introduced that Foreign Minister Lavrov will come to China to attend the third Afghan Neighboring Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. We will release relevant news about this meeting in a timely manner. Please stay tuned.
When will the “China-US-Russia+” consultation mechanism meeting be held? Can you provide more meeting details?
Wang Wenbin: Regarding the relevant situation of the “China-US-Russia +” Afghanistan consultation mechanism meeting, we will also release information in a timely manner. Please stay tuned.
According to reports, in recent days, armed conflicts broke out in parts of South Sudan, and the security situation was tense. What is China’s comment?
Wang Wenbin: China has noted relevant reports. Since 2020, the peace process in South Sudan has made important progress, which serves the fundamental interests of the South Sudanese people and is also conducive to regional peace and stability. China calls on all parties concerned to cherish the current hard-won peace achievements, put the interests of the country and the people first, exercise restraint to the greatest extent, continue to resolve differences through dialogue and consultation, and avoid further escalation of the situation. China is willing to continue to work with the international community to make positive contributions to the political transition process in South Sudan.
During the meeting between the foreign ministers of China and Russia, did China ask Russia to stop the war with Ukraine?
Wang Wenbin: I have answered relevant questions just now.
Can you provide more details about the entry quarantine requirements for US investigators including representatives of the US National Transportation Safety Board who came to China to assist in the investigation of the crash of China Eastern Airlines flight? Do they need to be quarantined? When and where to quarantine?
Wang Wenbin: Please ask the relevant departments for the specific issues you mentioned.
On the 29th, Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen met with Wilson, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, and said that he looked forward to sharing experience with the National Endowment for Democracy and strengthening the resilience of democracy together. What is the spokesperson’s comment on this?
Wang Wenbin: Taiwan’s DPP authorities are used to covering up their “Taiwan independence” under the banner of “democracy”. But no matter how the DPP authorities cover up, their refusal to recognize the “1992 Consensus” embodying the one-China principle, their promotion of “de-Sinicization”, and their manipulation of “legal Taiwan independence” are all exposed.
Last year, the DPP authorities attempted to expand the space for separatist activities through the so-called “Leaders’ Democracy Summit”, but the result was self-indulgent. This year, he and the National Endowment for Democracy, the so-called “Second CIA”, have been embarrassed and tried to stage a farce of “Taiwan independence” kidnapping “democracy”, which will only bring humiliation again.
No matter how the DPP authorities paint themselves, they can’t deceive the international community, and its ugly face of “Taiwan independence” will only get uglier.
The Philippines protested that the Chinese Coast Guard ship entered Philippine waters and carried out close-range activities. What is China’s comment?
Wang Wenbin: I answered this question the day before yesterday, you can check it out.
According to reports, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology approved a batch of high school textbooks on the 29th, downplaying and distorting the historical facts of Japan’s forced recruitment of “comfort women” and forced labor, and promoting Japan’s unilateral claims on the Diaoyu Islands. What is China’s comment?
Wang Wenbin: The forced recruitment of “comfort women” and forced labor is a serious crime against humanity committed by Japanese militarism during its foreign aggression and expansion. This is an internationally recognized historical fact, with irrefutable evidence that cannot be tampered with.
Playing word games to obscure historical facts, downplaying and evading historical guilt in the review of textbooks is Japan’s usual tactic to deny and distort its history of aggression. The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to this, and has lodged solemn representations with the Japanese side. We solemnly urge the Japanese side to face up to and reflect on its history of aggression, draw a clear line from militarism, and properly handle issues left over from history in a responsible manner, so as not to further lose its trust in its Asian neighbors and the international community.
What I want to stress is that the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands have been China’s inherent territory since ancient times, and China has indisputable sovereignty over them. No matter what the Japanese side does in textbooks, it will not change the fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China. Any attempt to undermine China’s territorial sovereignty is futile.
Russia and China have agreed to expand cooperation amid the challenging international situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said today, according to Interfax news agency. In which fields will Russia and China cooperate? Does it include the military field?
As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia have always adhered to the principle of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries to develop bilateral relations. The two sides will continue to practice genuine multilateralism and are committed to promoting world multi-polarization and democratization of international relations.
According to reports, the survey results of the Asian American Federation show that 75% of Asian seniors in New York City say they are afraid to go out due to anti-Asian violence. What is the spokesperson’s comment on this?
Wang Wenbin: I have noticed relevant reports and am concerned about discrimination against Asians and hate crimes in the United States.
Asian minorities have made important contributions to the economic and social development of the United States. Just taking Chinese as an example, it is reported that in 2019, Chinese contributed more than 300 billion US dollars to the US GDP through consumer spending and supported 3 million jobs. As of 2017, there were more than 160,000 Chinese-owned enterprises in the United States, generating about $240 billion in revenue and creating 1.3 million jobs. Chinese Americans are also actively involved in non-profit organizations, volunteering, and philanthropy, making important contributions to U.S. public health and social well-being. Since March 2020, more than 690 Chinese-American grassroots organizations have raised more than $18 million to provide millions of pieces of personal protective equipment and meals to U.S. agencies fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. However, their hard work and important contributions are not rewarded with the respect and protection they deserve, but intensified discrimination and injustice. After the outbreak, many Asian doctors in the United States said that “patients are more afraid of me than the virus.” On March 16 last year, six Asian women were killed in a vicious shooting of Asian women in Atlanta. But U.S. law enforcement was reluctant to characterize the incident as a “hate crime,” sparking fear and anger among Asian Americans across the country. According to a research report by the Center for Hate and Extremism Studies at California State University, San Bernardino, hate crimes against Asian Americans across the United States will increase by 339% in 2021 compared to 2020. In addition to hate crimes, Asian Americans face discrimination in employment, enrollment, income, social benefits and cultural rights of all kinds. According to a study by the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, only 54 percent of older Asian Americans are satisfied with their lives, significantly lower than their peers of other races in the United States.
Frozen three feet, not a day’s cold. The root cause of the long-term threat of discrimination and hate speech and deeds faced by Asian Americans is the deep-rooted white supremacy in the United States. What is more serious is that some American politicians wantonly instigate confrontation and advocate hostile policies against Asians out of personal political interests, which has contributed to aggravating the plight of Asians in the United States. The former U.S. leader publicly referred to the new coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, causing an international uproar. During the advancement of the “Anti-Asian Hate Crime Act” in the US Congress, there are still six senior Republican anti-China politicians who voted against it, and even openly linked the new crown virus with Asians to carry out stigma attacks. The last U.S. administration’s infamous “China Action Plan” fueled racial discrimination against Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans, and was to blame for a 71 percent increase in violence against Asian Americans from 2019 to 2020 .
Although the “China Action Plan” was stopped at the request of all parties, the discrimination, smearing, suppression, and attacks against Asian minorities, including the Chinese, continued. This is a stain on American human rights, an irony against the so-called “national melting pot”, and a blasphemy against the “freedom and equality” that the United States advertises. The United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur De Varena pointed out that the human rights system in the United States is leading to growing inequality. Harvard professor Walter said the United States must address the problems that arise at home and rethink how it deals with other countries. At the 48th United Nations Human Rights Council, many countries unanimously condemned the United States as “the biggest destroyer of the world’s human rights cause” and urged the United States to solve its own serious human rights problems. We urge the US government to listen carefully to the voice of the international community and stop acting as a negative teaching material for the double standard of human rights.
U.S. Trade Representative Dai Qi said it was time to give up on changing China’s behavior and take a defensive stance against the world’s second-largest economy. Dai Qi said that the United States has repeatedly sought and succeeded in getting China to make commitments, but it is still difficult for China to fulfill its commitments or make real changes. What is the comment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this?
Wang Wenbin: China is a staunch advocate of trade liberalization and facilitation, and is determined to continue to expand opening up. The Chinese government always supports the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, respects market laws, opposes protectionism, and is committed to promoting the healthy and stable development of the global economy and trade. The so-called “market-distorting behavior” cannot be attached to China.
On the contrary, the US really needs to turn a new page, stop generalizing the concept of national security, stop abusing its own technological advantages and global financial hegemony to unreasonably suppress companies from other countries, and stop unilateral bullying and “long-arm jurisdiction”. Such behavior seriously violates the principles of market economy and international economic and trade rules, harms the interests of other countries, undermines the security and stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain, and does harm to others.
Who will represent the United States at the “China-US-Russia+” consultation mechanism meeting on the Afghanistan issue held in Tunxi?
Wang Wenbin: The special representatives of the United States, Russia and Pakistan on Afghanistan will attend the “China-US-Russia+” consultation mechanism meeting chaired by Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong, Special Envoy for Afghanistan Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A US project called “Mekong Dam Monitoring (MDM)” has repeatedly released data in recent years, accusing “Chinese dams of causing water shortages in Southeast Asian countries.” However, recently, a team from the Department of Water Conservancy of Tsinghua University used satellite remote sensing monitoring technology and high-precision measured data to find that the data released by the relevant project is far from the actual situation. For example, the error of the monitoring data of the Xiaowan Reservoir for three periods in 2020 is as high as 3 to 10 meters. What is the comment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this?
Wang Wenbin: I also noticed the relevant research findings of the Tsinghua University expert team. Although the “Mekong River Dam Monitoring” project later admitted that the data it released had serious errors and made corrections, some hydrology experts pointed out that the corrected data still had an error of up to 8 meters from the actual water level measurement. Large errors like these are likely to be misinterpreted as “water retention by Chinese dams”. It is precisely such erroneous data that has become the so-called “evidence” that “Chinese dams have caused droughts in the lower reaches of Southeast Asian countries”.
We have also noticed public reports in the media that this so-called “dam monitoring” project is funded by the US State Department, and some of them have been making unfounded accusations against China over the Mekong River issue in recent years.
In fact, the role of dams in the upper Lancang River has been discussed by the international scientific community and the Mekong River Commission. The research report released by the Mekong Committee believes that the cascade reservoirs of the Lancang River in China have the function of “storing floods in the rainy season and releasing water in the dry season”, which helps to maintain the stability of the flow of the Mekong River. At present, information sharing and cooperation in the field of Lancang-Mekong water resources are developing in depth. China has provided the Mekong River countries and the Mekong Committee with the annual hydrological information of the Lancang River since November 2020, and actively contributes to the sharing of water resources and the joint response to flood disasters among the people in the basin. contribute.
Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation requires the mutual trust and hard work of countries in the region, and does not require external finger-pointing and provocation. We hope that the US will fully respect the efforts made by the Lancang-Mekong countries to promote the sustainable utilization of water resources in the basin, and do more practical things and good deeds to promote regional economic and social development.
Before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the heads of state of China and Russia said that there is no upper limit to the cooperation between the two sides. What does it mean for the two countries to expand cooperation now? To what extent should the cooperation be expanded? What areas will be covered?
Wang Wenbin: There is no upper limit to Sino-Russian cooperation in striving for peace, no upper limit for maintaining security, and no upper limit for opposing hegemony. Sino-Russian relations are non-aligned, non-confrontational, and not targeting third parties.
You mentioned just now that China and the EU will hold the China-EU leaders’ meeting by video on April 1. What is China’s expectation for the outcome of this meeting? Does China look forward to restarting the China-EU Investment Agreement?
Wang Wenbin: I have just introduced the relevant information about the 23rd China-EU leaders’ meeting, and I would like to add some more information. Yesterday, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a video meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell. During the meeting, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized that China and the EU, as two major forces in the process of world multi-polarization, should maintain regular strategic communication, continuously enhance mutual understanding, continue to expand cooperation consensus, and jointly address various global challenges. The two sides should well prepare for the next stage of high-level exchanges, including the China-EU leaders’ meeting, to provide strategic guidance for bilateral cooperation and send a positive signal to the world.
As for the China-EU Investment Agreement, it is a win-win agreement reached through negotiations between China and the EU on the basis of years of mutually beneficial cooperation and mutual trust. It is the economic and trade agreement with the highest degree of opening to the outside world, the lowest market access threshold, and the widest coverage of China so far. , is beneficial to China, and more beneficial to Europe.
(Comprehensive from: the official website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
