CCTV: According to reports, during US Under Secretary of State Krach's visit to Taiwan from September 17 to 19, he met with the region's leadership including Tsai Ing-wen, and attended a memorial service of Lee Teng-hui. This is another visit to Taiwan by a senior US official following HHS Secretary Azar in August. What's China's comment on this?

Wang Wenbin: China firmly opposes any kind of official ties between the US and the Taiwan region. By insistently sending HHS Secretary Azar and Under Secretary Krach to visit the region, the US has seriously violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués. It is a political provocation that emboldens "Taiwan independence" separatists and undermines China-US relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns it. We will take countermeasures, including against relevant individuals. The US acts will have further negative consequences on China-US coordination and cooperation on major regional and international issues, for which it bears full responsibility.

China is determined to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity, oppose external interference, and realize the reunification across the Taiwan Strait. We solemnly inform the US side that "Taiwan independence" only leads to a dead end, and efforts to condone and support "Taiwan independence" are doomed to fail. Any attempt to hurt China's core interests and interfere in China's internal affairs will be met with strong reactions. The historical trend of China's reunification won't be stopped by any force. China urges the US to correct its mistakes, fulfill its commitments in the three joint communiqués, stop its official exchange and military ties with Taiwan, and stop its interference in China's internal affairs as well as words and deeds that undermine China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Global Times: We noted that the foreign ministry website just released China's position paper for the UN Summit on Biodiversity entitled "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth: China in Action". Could you offer more information about it?

Wang Wenbin: As the UN Summit on Biodiversity is to be held on September 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly released on September 21 China's position paper "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth: China in Action", elaborating on China's experience, progress, position and propositions on biodiversity conservation from the perspectives of philosophy of ecological civilization, domestic policy measures, promoting sustainable development, engagement of the entire society, global biodiversity governance, international exchanges and cooperation.

As stated in the position paper, China will remain committed to pursuing ecological protection and green development. China stands for multilateralism and is committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind. China will actively participate in global biodiversity governance and contribute to global ecological civilization and to a shared future for all life on Earth. As the host of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), China will make good preparations for it and stands ready to work together with other countries for an ambitious, balanced and realistic framework and a clean, beautiful world thriving with life.

Reuters: The People's Liberation Army air force released a video showing its bombers carrying out a simulated attack on what appears to be Andersen Air Force Base on the U.S. Pacific island of Guam. Why did China use Guam in this video? Is the video intended as a threat to the US?

Wang Wenbin: I'm not aware of what you said. Please consult the relevant authority.

CRI: The US unilaterally announced on September 19 that all UN Security Council sanctions against Iran had been restored, as the US invoked the "snapback" on August 20. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: We have been reiterating China's position on how the Iranian nuclear issue may be approached at the Security Council. The US is no longer a party to the JCPOA. Its letter to the Security Council on August 20 has no legal validity, nor does the US have any right to demand that the Security Council invoke a snapback. The Security Council President concluded that he would take no further action on the US request and the Security Council has not taken any action on triggering the snapback. Therefore, the Security Council, pursuant to Resolution 2231, will continue with its ways with regards to the sanctions on Iran. Over the past weekend, parties to the JCPOA, including China, Russia, France, the UK and Germany, sent letters respectively to the Security Council President to make clear their opposition to the US unilateral announcement on restoring sanctions. The European Union also put out a statement. All these reflect the shared position and consensus of the international community.

The US side is cherry-picking on international law-obeying or flouting it according to its own whim. It is not only breaking the law, but also threatening to use illegal unilateral sanctions to coerce other countries. This outrageous and unreasonable approach has been widely frowned upon and opposed by the international community. We hereby advise the US side not to go further down the road of unilateralism.

China has noted the concerns of relevant countries over the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has put forward the proposal that, under the premise of safeguarding JCPOA, efforts be made to seek out an additional platform for dialogue among regional countries to promote the formation of new consensus on safeguarding regional peace and stability. We are ready to work with relevant parties to continue to push for the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Bloomberg: Regarding the US government's recent move against Chinese tech companies, some observers say that Bytedance got its way retaining control of TikTok and its own algorithms, while avoiding a ban. Meanwhile, Tencent's WeChat users also managed to win a court injunction suspending the executive order. What's the foreign ministry's view of these developments? What does it tell us about China-US business ties?  

Wang Wenbin: We don't comment on the specific business behaviors of companies. As a principle, I'd like to reiterate that China urges the US to respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, observe international trade rules, stop politicizing normal trade and economic cooperation, and foster an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for foreign companies operating and investing in the US.