BEIJING: China has lodged serious protests to the US side, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, responding to a question about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks on China during his visit to LAC countries, including that on China’s cooperation with LAC, the Panama Canal, Belt and Road cooperation, 5G and cybersecurity, and the one-China principle.
The groundless comments from the US, steeped in Cold-War mentality and ideological bias, are unfounded accusations against China aimed at sowing discord between China and relevant LAC countries, the spokesperson said.
“China is committed to growing friendship and cooperative ties with LAC countries under the principle of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation. Between China and LAC countries, there is no zero-sum and the-winner-takes-all geopolitical calculations, only sincere mutual support and cooperation for shared progress,” said the spokesperson.
“We never attach any strings to the practical cooperation between China and LAC countries, or target any third party. The cooperation meets the need of LAC countries, is mutually beneficial and has delivered tangibly to relevant countries and made lives better for the local population. The US points fingers at normal cooperation between LAC countries and a third country, showing no respect for LAC countries. The overwhelming trend of China and LAC countries working together for stronger cooperation is irreversible,” said the spokesperson.
China supports Panama’s sovereignty over the Panama Canal and is committed to upholding the Canal’s status as a permanently neutral international waterway. China has never participated in managing or operating the Canal, and never ever has China interfered. The accusation that China has control over the Canal is totally groundless. The world is not blind to the truth that who is keeping the Canal neutral and thriving and who keeps threatening to “take back” the Canal, said the spokesperson.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an initiative for economic cooperation. Since it was proposed in 2013, its cooperation areas and scope have kept expanding and the outcomes have continued to benefit people of different countries. The BRI has now become one of the most popular international public goods and the largest-scale international cooperation platform. The BRI cooperation has delivered tangibly for people in more than 150 countries and boosted the common development of developing countries, read the statement.
The US attack and disruption of cooperation under the BRI once again exposes their hegemonism. We firmly oppose the US smear and sabotage of the BRI cooperation, said the spokesperson.
China has been all along committed to safeguarding cybersecurity and carrying out cooperation in relevant areas based on the principle of win-win cooperation. Chinese companies have been widely popular for their advanced 5G technologies and secure and efficient services. Smearing Chinese companies and suppressing Chinese technologies will neither hold back China’s development and progress nor stop its cooperation with other countries, but only cut oneself off opportunities, said the spokesperson.
There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. One hundred and eighty-three countries in the world have established diplomatic ties with China, which fully shows that supporting the one-China principle is the right thing to do and where the public opinion trends and the arc of history bends. The Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair, which brooks no foreign interference.
The US interruption of the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and LAC countries will win no support and is doomed to fail. China will firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, said the spokesperson.
