Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on September 4, 2020 |
2020-09-04 23:03 |
China Daily: The Times carried a report saying that "the number of Chinese diplomats in the UK has risen by almost a quarter in the past decade, prompting renewed concerns over the country's political influence in Britain". What is your comment? Hua Chunying: The Chinese Embassy in the UK is committed to enhancing mutual understanding and win-win cooperation between the two sides. The past 10 years have seen remarkable increases in bilateral trade and investment, personnel exchanges, and cultural and educational interactions. Over the 10 years, trade between the two countries doubled; Chinese investment in the UK grew by almost 20 times; and the number of Chinese students in the UK increased by 100,000. Tangible benefits have been delivered to the two peoples. As the workload of the Chinese Embassy has risen, it is entirely normal, necessary and reasonable to have more staff in the Embassy. In fact, during the same period, the number of Chinese diplomats in the UK is still smaller than that of British diplomats in China. Some people have racked their brains to think of something that may sabotage China-UK relations, but their patch-up work makes no sense at all. I believe their ill intention is already seen through by all. China News Service: US Secretary of State Pompeo and some other US politicians have been viciously attacking the CPC on multiple occasions. But we also noticed President Xi Jinping mentioned the phrase "the Chinese people will never allow" five times during his speech yesterday at a symposium in Beijing as China marked the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. His speech drew wide domestic and international attention. Do you have any comment on that? Hua Chunying: I'd like to advise Pompeo and other US politicians to carefully read the transcript of President Xi's speech at the symposium to mark the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The victory of the Chinese people's war of resistance against Japanese aggression 75 years ago was the victory of our national spirit to which patriotism is central, the victory of the CPC's crucial role, the victory of all Chinese people uniting together, and the victory of the people of China, anti-fascist allies and other countries fighting side by side. For 75 years there have been flesh and blood ties between the CPC and the Chinese people. The original aspiration and the mission of Chinese Communists is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and great renewal for the Chinese nation. The CPC started with only dozens of members, and today it has grown into a major party with 92 million members and has long been the ruling party in the world's most populous country. The reason for it is that the CPC represents the fundamental interests of the greatest possible majority of the Chinese people, serves the people wholeheartedly, and keeps being a party by the people and for the people. According to surveys conducted by a worldly famous research center, for years the Chinese people's satisfaction and support with the CPC have been ranking first in the world. During the 75 years, the CPC has united and led all Chinese people in making strenuous efforts that yielded remarkable outcomes. By this year, altogether over 850 million people will be out of absolute poverty, the first time in China's history to eliminate absolute poverty. All 1.4 billion Chinese people are blazing a path to modernization. It is unprecedentedly tremendous progress in human history. President Xi stressed at the symposium that to achieve the great renewal of the Chinese nation, the country must stick to the leadership of the CPC, the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the people-centric approach, a fighting spirit, and peaceful development. The Chinese people will never allow attempts by anyone or any forces to distort the history of the CPC and vilify its nature and mission. The Chinese people will never allow attempts by anyone or any forces to distort and change the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, deny and vilify the great achievements of the Chinese people in building socialism. The Chinese people will never allow attempts by anyone or any forces to separate the CPC from the Chinese people and set them against each other. The Chinese people will never allow attempts by anyone or any forces to impose their will on China, change its direction of development, and obstruct Chinese people's efforts in building a better life for themselves. The Chinese people will never allow attempts by anyone or any forces to jeopardize their peaceful life and right to development, obstruct their exchanges and cooperation with other peoples, or undermine the noble cause of peace and development for humanity. The phrase of "the Chinese people will never allow" repeated five times is the best answer to the deliberate smears against the CPC and the attempt to drive a wedge between the CPC and the Chinese people by some extremist, anti-China forces in the United States. CCTV: Panelists of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, which is appointed by the World Health Organization to review its coordination of COVID-19 response, were named by the panel's co-chairs during a media briefing on September 3. The panelists include Dr. Zhong Nanshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Do you have any comment? Hua Chunying: Dr. Zhong Nanshan enjoys high prestige as an authoritative expert in infectious disease prevention and control. We believe his professionalism and experience will contribute to the WHO panel's work. The COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc around the globe and fighting the virus remains the top priority for all countries. To fight COVID-19, we need to make concerted efforts at the national, regional and global levels and give full play to WHO's central role in coordinating anti-epidemic efforts. The Paper: US State Department Spokesperson Ortagus issued a statement, announcing the next steps with respect to US withdrawal from the WHO and the redirection of American resources. This redirection includes reprogramming the remaining balance of its planned Fiscal Year 2020 assessed WHO contributions to partially pay other UN assessments and scaling down its engagement with the WHO. The WHO has failed badly not only in its response to COVID-19, but also to other health crises in recent decades. In addition, WHO has declined to adopt urgently needed reforms, starting with demonstrating its independence from China. What is your response? Hua Chunying: The US has been shifting the blame to China and WHO for its own failure in handling the epidemic. We have said many times that the timeline and facts of China's fight against COVID-19 are clear. Some people in the US keep saying that "China had the chance to contain the virus". But in the face of this ferocious and unknown virus, China shared with the rest of the world what it has learned about the virus at the earliest time possible, and contained its spread with the firmest measures within the shortest period of time. China has obtained satisfying scores in this unprecedented test. On February 2, the US closed its borders to all Chinese citizens when it reported only more than 10 confirmed cases. The US could have had every opportunity to prevent the epidemic from spreading domestically. But as of yesterday, there were more than 6.11 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 185,000 deaths in the US. One has to ask: when the US had the chance to do better, what was it doing at that time? This deserves some reflection and has been widely discussed by many American media, experts and people from various sectors. Some in the US should do some self-reflection, take up their responsibility towards the people, respect science and facts, and take effective actions to save as many American lives as possible. As for the US dumping blames on WHO, we all know WHO is an international body composed of 194 sovereign states. It cannot serve only one country, let alone bend to the will of the one that pays more money than others. As the epidemic continues to spread around the world, the fight against the epidemic remains a top |