Q: On June 15, leaders of the EU and the US issued a Statement after the Summit in Brussels, mentioning Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the East and South China Seas and other China-related issues, and accusing China of economic coercion and spreading disinformation. What is your comment?
A: The EU-US Summit Statement has gone far beyond the norm of developing bilateral relations. It is filled with outdated Cold War mentality and bloc politics rhetoric. Such attempt to form small circles pitted against one another runs counter to the trend of history and does no good to regional and global peace and stability.
We express our strong discontent with and firm opposition to the references to China in the Statement. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet-related issues are China’s internal affairs. The East and South China Seas concern China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. All these issues represent China’s fundamental interests and allow no interference. As for who is imposing unilateral sanctions based on lies and disinformation and who is pressurizing and coercing others to keep its hegemony, the international community sees very clearly and fair-minded people can tell right from wrong. China is no longer like what it was in the past. The Chinese people have stood up. Intimidation will never work on us. We will stay on the course of peaceful development and at the same time, firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.