BEIJING: China stands against the U.S. interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights and values, and restraining China’s legitimate right to development in the name of competition, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a query about recent China-related comments from U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
“We noted that Ambassador Burns has recently made negative comments on China on multiple occasions. These statements deviate from the important common understandings reached by the presidents of China and the U.S. at the summit meeting in San Francisco,” Lin said, adding that such negative comments do not serve the sound and steady growth of China-U.S. relations.
Lin said China always follows the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation in handling and growing the bilateral relations.
“We hope that the U.S. will work with China in the same direction and implement the important common understandings and vision reached by the two presidents at the summit meeting in San Francisco to promote the steady, sound and sustainable growth of the bilateral relations,” he added.
Chinese premier stresses efforts to stabilize grain supply
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has urged all-out efforts to secure the stable supply of grain and vital agricultural products.
Premier Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in instructions on spring agricultural production and disaster prevention, reduction and relief efforts.
Local governments should be fully prepared for spring plowing and provide greater policy support and technical guidance for agricultural production, Li said. He also emphasized the need to ensure adequate supply of agricultural materials.
Li said these efforts aim to help the country achieve another bumper harvest and firmly underpin its high-quality social and economic development.
A national conference on spring agricultural production and disaster prevention, reduction and relief efforts was convened in Xinxiang, Henan Province on Monday. Vice Premier Liu Guozhong attended the conference and made a speech.
Liu called for moves to increase grain and oil yields, encourage the use of supportive technology, and promote the development and maintenance of high-standard farmland.
Efforts should also be made to monitor disaster risks and strengthen emergency preparedness to reduce the impact of disasters on agricultural output, the vice premier said.
Prior to the conference, Liu visited Xingtai in Hebei Province, north China, and examined the restoration of damaged agricultural infrastructure and the growth of wheat.
China firmly opposes Taiwan politician’s official contacts with Czech
China urges the Czech Republic to honor its promises to strictly restrain certain individual politicians from sabotaging China-Czech relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference on Tuesday.
Lin made the remarks in response to a question about Taiwan’s so-called vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim visiting the Czech Republic and giving a speech at a think tank. Lin said explicitly that Taiwan is a province of China and does not have a vice president.
Lin said that China strongly opposes official interaction of any form between China’s Taiwan region and countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and this position is consistent and clear.
In multiple official documents, including the joint statements and joint communiqué between the government of China and the Czech government, the government of the Czech Republic solemnly committed to stick to the one-China policy , respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and recognize that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.
China urges the Czech Republic to follow its commitment, strictly restrain certain politicians, immediately stop the egregious moves that undermine the national credibility of the Czech Republic and its relations with China. “We urge the Czech Republic to take effective measures to undo the negative influence of the incident,” Lin said.
“Our message to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists is that whoever engages in ‘Taiwan independence’ will be held accountable by history; whoever in the world creates ‘one China, one Taiwan’ will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing,” Lin stressed.
Later on the same day, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the so-called diplomatic breakthroughs adopted by the DPP authorities in the Taiwan region, in collusion with external forces, to achieve the goal of “Taiwan independence” have undermined the fundamental interests of the Taiwan compatriots, which cannot change the fact that Taiwan is a part of China, and are not conducive to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.
