Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian’s Regular Press Conference on April 29, 2024

CCTV: The Foreign Ministry has just announced President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary. Could you share with us the program and China’s expectation for the visits?

Lin Jian: The visits will be Chinese president’s first trip to Europe in the past nearly five years. They are vitally important for China’s relations with France, Serbia, Hungary and the EU at large, and will provide new impetus for global peace and development.

France is the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level with the People’s Republic of China. Our relations have long been at the forefront of China’s relations with Western countries. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi and President Macron, bilateral relations have maintained a sound momentum of growth. The two countries have had effective strategic communication and fruitful practical cooperation, deepened people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and engaged in sound communication and coordination in international and regional affairs.

During the visit, President Xi will hold talks with President Macron to have in-depth exchange of views on China-France relations, China-EU relations and international and regional hotspots of mutual interest. The two presidents will also hold events somewhere other than Paris. The visit will be President Xi’s second state visit to France after five years and take place during the 60th anniversary year of China-France diplomatic ties, which gives the visit special meaning as an important opportunity to build on past achievements and guide the future for bilateral ties. China looks forward to working with France through this visit to carry forward our good tradition, embrace the future, and further enhance political mutual trust, solidarity and cooperation, so that we can jointly elevate our comprehensive strategic partnership, inject impetus to a sound and stable China-EU relationship, and make new contribution to global peace, stability, and development.

Serbia is China’s first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Our two countries have nurtured an iron-clad friendship. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi and President Vučić, China-Serbia relations have enjoyed robust growth. The two countries firmly support each other on issues of core interests and major concerns, and enjoy solid political mutual trust. The two sides have had fruitful high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and close coordination in the multilateral arena. To further deepen China-Serbia relations is in the fundamental and long-term interest of both countries and peoples, and conducive to upholding international justice and fairness and keeping the region and the world peaceful and stable.

During the visit, President Xi will hold talks with President Vučić for in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest. They will discuss an upgrade of the China-Serbia relationship and chart the future course for bilateral relations. President Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia will be his second visit to the country in eight years, which will mark an important milestone for strengthening and elevating China-Serbia ties. China looks forward to working with Serbia and taking this visit as an opportunity to further cement our iron-clad friendship, deepen political mutual trust and expand practical cooperation to open a new historic chapter for bilateral relations and make greater contribution to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Hungary is an important country in Central and Eastern Europe and China’s important partner in Belt and Road cooperation and China-CEEC cooperation. In recent years,under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, China-Hungary relations have maintained robust growth. Our two countries have had close high-level exchanges, deepened political mutual trust, made fruitful and solid progress in cooperation in various fields, and brought tangible benefits to the two peoples. As each other’s comprehensive strategic partners, China and Hungary are both focused on development endeavors suited to our respective national conditions. To deepen traditional friendship and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation is in the mutual interest of both countries and serves the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and beyond. The fact that President Tamás Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán jointly invited President Xi Jinping to visit Hungary shows how much Hungary values and looks forward to this visit.

During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with President Tamás Sulyok and hold talks with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to have in-depth exchange of views on China-Hungary relations and issues of mutual interest. This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Hungary diplomatic ties. This milestone visit will elevate bilateral relations to a new height, open a new chapter in China-Hungary friendship and cooperation, inject impetus to China-EU relations and provide elements of stability and positive energy to a turbulent world.

China Daily: On April 24 local time, US President Joe Biden signed into law a military aid package, which contains negative articles on China. What is China’s comment on this?

Lin Jian: China firmly rejects the US passing and signing into law the military aid package containing negative content on China. We have lodged serious representations to the US.

This package gravely infringes upon China’s sovereignty. It includes large military aid to Taiwan, which seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and sends a seriously wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. The legislation undermines the principles of market economy and fair competition by wantonly going after other countries’ companies in the name of “national security,” which once again reveals the US’s hegemonic and bullying nature. It advocates sanctions on China in disregard of the huge amount of work China has done to help the US address its fentanyl crisis. The legislation also threatens to impose unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction over normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Iran under the framework of international law, which creates serious obstacles for China-US cooperation in relevant areas.

We urge the US to respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and not to implement these negative articles concerning China. Otherwise China will take strong and resolute measures to safeguard our sovereignty, security and development interests.

CCTV: On April 26, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took interviews from NPR and CNN. He said the US has seen evidence of Chinese attempts to “influence and arguably interfere” with the US general election. He noted “any interference by China in our election is something that we’re looking very carefully at” and “we want to make sure that that’s cut off as quickly as possible.” What’s China’s comment?

Lin Jian: Non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs is a basic principle for China’s diplomacy. The US presidential election is the US’s internal affair. We have never had any interest and will not interfere in any way in the election. Nevertheless, we staunchly reject anyone making an issue of China and damaging China’s interests for election purposes. The US needs to stop the paranoia and shadow-chasing, stop slinging mud at China to divert attention and deflect the blame, and contribute to a stable China-US relationship and the wellbeing of our two peoples.

China News Service: It’s reported that hundreds of bodies were found days ago buried deep in the ground at Nasser Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said reports continued to emerge about the discovery of mass graves in Gaza, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was horrified and called for independent investigations into the deaths. What’s your comment?

Lin Jian: China noted the media reports. We are deeply shocked and strongly condemn the perpetrators of the atrocity. Vast swaths of Gaza are now left in rubble and over a million civilians are struggling in despair on the brink of death. The fact that this is even happening in the 21st century is an outrage to the moral conscience of humanity, and tramples on the most fundamental aspect of international justice.

More than 200 days have passed since October 7. The conflict in Gaza has caused over 100 thousand causalities and displaced over a million. A humanitarian catastrophe that should never have happened continues to unfold before our eyes. The biggest imperative is to put in place a ceasefire as soon as possible. This is the number one overriding priority in Gaza. Relevant country must no longer turn a deaf ear to the call for justice from people with conscience across the world. It must no longer talk about the need of a ceasefire while pouring weapons into the conflict, and talk about aid while creating obstacles for humanitarian access. It must immediately implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions, realize unconditional and durable ceasefire, and take concrete action to end this biggest humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century once and for all.

As Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted in the written interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network, the Gaza calamity shows once again that the perpetual denial of the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people is the root cause of the Palestinian question, and it is also the core issue of the Middle East question. China will continue to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with Middle East countries and the whole international community to firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights; firmly support internal reconciliation among different factions of Palestine through dialogue; firmly support Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations at an early date; and firmly support establishing the independent State of Palestine and realizing “the Palestinians governing Palestine.” We call for a more broad-based, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference to set a timetable and a roadmap for the two-State solution, to promote comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question, and to ultimately realize peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine as well as harmony between the Arab and Jewish peoples.

TASS: Last Friday, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference in Beijing again accused China of providing dual-use goods to Russia and supporting Russian military-industrial complex and said that the US is going to take actions if it doesn’t stop. What’s China’s comment? 

Lin Jian: We have made China’s position clear multiple times. Let me reiterate that China is neither a creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a party to it. We have never done anything to fan the flames or seek profit from the crisis. China’s position is open and aboveboard. Simply put, we are committed to promoting talks for peace and seeking political settlement of the crisis.

Let me be clear, China’s right to normal trade and economic exchanges with countries in the world, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit should not be interfered with or disrupted. The US keeps pouring munition into Ukraine, while blaming our normal trade with Russia. It is pretty clear who exactly is fueling the flame and aggravating the crisis.

China’s legitimate and lawful rights and interests should not be violated. We urge the US to stop vilifying, pressuring and scapegoating China, stop going after Chinese companies with illicit unilateral sanctions, and start making a real effort to play a constructive role for an early end of the crisis.

AFP: You mentioned President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to France in early May. France just announced that the visit will happen on May 6 and 7. Can you confirm the dates and tell us the program of the visit?

Lin Jian: We’ve made the announcement on the visit. You may refer to that. I have nothing to add.

Anadolu Agency: It’s been reported by Arab media that Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas had a meeting these days in Beijing to discuss the ending of internal division. Can you give any information about the meeting and what is China’s role in these contacts?

Lin Jian: China and Palestine share a traditional friendship. We support Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and increasing solidarity through dialogue and consultation. We will continue to work actively towards that end.

Beijing Youth Daily: The documentary film The Yangtze River by Japanese director Ryo Takeuchi was shown on April 26 at the Beijing International Film Festival. Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao attended the premiere of the documentary in Tokyo. The tremendous change along the Yantze River over the past decade documented by the film touched the audience from both countries and sparked heated discussion. Do you have any comment on the documentary?

Lin Jian: I also noted this film and watched a clip of it. From a unique perspective and with superb shooting skills, the documentary The Yangtze River illustrated the tremendous changes along the river over the past decade, providing an epitome of China’s economic and social development in the new era. The documentary presented both the breath-taking landscape and the industrial people and their heart-warming stories. The sincerity and goodness channeled by the director and leading characters through the documentary transcend time, distance, language and nationality, and struck a chord among audience from various backgrounds. We hope that more Japanese media and people from the art community will present stories of China in a vivid and truthful way from an objective perspective to enhance the mutual understanding and friendly sentiments between the people of China and Japan. We also hope that friends from various countries will get to know more about China through this documentary and come to China to feel the robust progress of Chinese modernization for themselves.

Reuters: I have two questions. First, following Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s visit to China, will Tesla’s full self-driving technology be allowed to run in China? Second, is China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin visiting Washington next week?

Lin Jian: On your first question, yesterday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Elon Musk and senior officials from competent agencies had talks with him. The Chinese side has released the readouts, which you may refer to. Let me repeat more broadly that China is committed to high-quality development and the opening-up strategy of win-win cooperation. China has been fostering a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework and actively promoting foreign investment. We take the concerns of foreign businesses very seriously and work hard to protect their lawful rights and interests. Chinese and foreign companies are treated as equals in China. We welcome foreign businesses to continue to deepen cooperation with China and share in the fruits of China’s economic growth. We also hope that foreign businesses will abide by Chinese laws and regulations and fulfill their commitments on safety and security.  

On your second question, China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and the Senior Advisor to the US President for International Climate Policy maintain close communication. On the visit you mentioned, I have nothing more to share at the moment.

Global Times: It’s reported that the China Cybersecurity Industry Alliance released on April 28 a report entitled US Threats and Sabotage to the Security and Development of Global Cyberspace. The report shows that the US has long used its IT technology and resource advantages to engage in irresponsible behavior in cyberspace. What’s China’s comment?

Lin Jian: We noted the report. The report reveals the US government’s hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices of spreading disinformation and interfering in other countries’ internal affairs through cyberspace, engaging in indiscriminate cyber surveillance and espionage and cyberattacks against key infrastructure in other countries, and disrupting global supply and industrial chains. China urges the US to reflect on its behavior, abide by international rules and stop endangering peace, stability and security in cyberspace.  

Shenzhen TV: It’s reported that five National Diet Members, including Tomomi Inada, the Liberal Democratic Party’s executive acting secretary-general, joined a “investigation group” organized by the government of the Ishigaki city and entered the territorial waters of Diaoyu Dao for “inspection.” What’s China’s comment?

Lin Jian: Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands have always been part of China’s territory. China has lodged serious representations to Japan through diplomatic channels over its infringements and provocations. China will continue taking all necessary measures to firmly safeguard our territorial sovereignty. We urge Japan to abide by the four-point principled consensus between China and Japan, immediately stop all provocations and unilateral moves to escalate the situation, and earnestly respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

AFP: Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk just left Beijing. How do you view his visit? What does this visit mean to foreign entrepreneurs and China-US relations?

Lin Jian: I answered that question just now. Let me repeat that China is committed to fostering a market-oriented and law-based business environment up to international standards. Foreign-invested businesses are welcome to continue deepening cooperation with China and share in the outcomes of China’s economic growth.

For specific questions about Musk’s visit, I’d refer you to the competent authorities.   

Bloomberg: We understand that the foreign ministers of Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia are visiting China this week. Is there any information on these visits? Who they will be meeting? And why these countries are all visiting in the same week?

Lin Jian: Last week, we announced the visits by foreign ministers of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru to China. During the visits, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi will hold talks with them respectively to exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest. China will release more details in due course. Please check back for updates.

The dates of those visits are decided mainly according to the schedules of the Chinese and the three Latin American foreign ministers. In recent years, China’s relations with Latin American countries have maintained positive momentum of growth. We have deepened mutual trust and cooperation. China will continue strengthening solidarity and cooperation with Latin American countries and elevate the China-LAC relationship in a new era characterized by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and more benefits for the people. We’re confident that the visits of the foreign ministers of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru will provide new impetus for the future growth of our ties with Latin America.