CCTV: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently blamed China on issues of Taiwan, economy and trade, COVID-19 and Indo-Pacific affairs in an interview by U.S. media outlet. What is China’s comment?
Lin Jian: Rubio’s remarks are steeped in the Cold-War mentality and full of lies and false accusations. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this, and has lodged serious protests with the U.S.
There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This is the real status quo of the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. has distorted the one-China principle, and insisted on using Taiwan to contain China, and the Taiwan authorities have sought “independence” under the support and connivance of the U.S. These are the most fundamental changes to the status quo of the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan question is the most crucial, sensitive and explosive issue in the China-U.S. relations. If the U.S. does not hope to trigger confrontation, they must stop crossing or trampling on the red line of the Taiwan question.
Trade and tariff wars have no winners. The U.S.’s attempts to politicize and weaponize trade and economic issues, levy tariff hikes on Chinese imports under the pretext of fentanyl, and create blocks to its normal trade, investment and economic cooperation with China will only harm its own economic interests and international credibility. China stands ready to work with the U.S. to address each other’s concerns through dialogue and consultation on the basis of equality and mutual respect. In the meanwhile, we will take all measures necessary to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.
The origins-tracing of COVID-19 is a serious science issue. It is “extremely unlikely” that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak—this is the authoritative conclusion reached by the experts of the WHO-China joint mission following their field trips to the lab in Wuhan and in-depth communication with researchers. It is a conclusion based on science, which is widely recognized by the international community and the science community. More and more clues in the international science community point possible COVID origins to various parts of the world, and a global perspective is needed to carry out origins-tracing work in multiple countries and regions, in particular the U.S. The U.S. needs to immediately stop slinging mud on and scapegoating China.
The Asia-Pacific is a pace-setter in cooperation and development, not a chess board for geopolitical rivalry. History and facts show time and again that treating other countries as a chess piece, pawn or even cannon fodder is the U.S.’s go-to tactic. The U.S. should not project its own hegemonic mentality onto China. Attempts to stoke bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific run counter to the trend of the times and go against the common aspiration of regional countries. These moves will win no support and be doomed to failure.
Our message to the U.S.: a lie told a thousand times cannot be a fact, the world will not be fooled by such baseless vilification against China, and megaphone diplomacy does no good to China-U.S. relations. We will be committed to viewing and developing our relations with the U.S. on the basis of the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, we will firmly defend national sovereignty, security and development interests.
