Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning on July 1, 2024
Presided over the regular press conference
CCTV: China announced yesterday that President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan. What issues will President Xi Jinping exchange views with the leaders attending the summit, and what are China's expectations for the summit? In addition, after this year's summit in Astana, China will take over the rotating presidency of the SCO. Can you tell us about the priorities of the Chinese presidency?
Mao Ning: Since its establishment 23 years ago, the SCO member states have always adhered to the "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and common development, promoted solidarity and mutual trust, carried out multilateral cooperation, and successfully built the SCO into a security barrier, a bridge of cooperation, a bond of friendship and a constructive force in the region, setting an example of a new type of international relations and a new type of regional cooperation. The upcoming summit in Astana is the most important event within the framework of the SCO this year. During the meeting, President Xi Jinping will have an in-depth exchange of views with the leaders of the participating countries on deepening cooperation in various fields under the new situation and on major international and regional issues, and make plans and plans for the next development of the SCO. China believes that this summit will build consensus among all parties, write a new chapter in cooperation, and make positive contributions to promoting the security, stability, development and rejuvenation of all countries and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
After the Astana summit, China will take over the SCO presidency for 2024-2025. This is the first time in seven years that China has assumed the presidency. China attaches great importance to this, has launched preparatory work in an all-round way, and stands ready to work with all parties to further deepen cooperation in the political, security, economic, trade and people-to-people fields under the guidance of the Shanghai Spirit, promote the high-quality development of the SCO, and promote the building of a closer SCO community with a shared future, so as to bring more benefits to the people of the region and contribute more to lasting peace and common prosperity in the world.
Xinhua News Agency: President Xi Jinping will pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, can you tell us more about the main arrangements for the visit and China's expectations for the development of China-Kazakhstan and China-Tajikistan relations?
Mao Ning: Kazakhstan is a friendly neighbor and permanent comprehensive strategic partner of China. Over the past 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China-Kazakhstan relations have maintained a momentum of healthy and stable development, with bright spots in cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, connectivity, energy, people-to-people and cultural relations, and have become a model of good-neighborliness, friendship, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between neighboring countries. Last year, President Xi Jinping and President Tokayev met twice in Xi'an and Beijing, making new arrangements and drawing up a new blueprint for the development of China-Kazakhstan relations, leading China-Kazakhstan cooperation into a "golden period" of rapid development.
This is President Xi Jinping's fifth visit to Kazakhstan. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will hold talks with President Tokayev and have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations, cooperation in key areas, and international and regional situations, and attend state events such as the welcoming ceremony, signing ceremony, and welcome banquet, as well as related supporting activities. It is believed that President Xi Jinping's visit will further promote the upgrading of China-Kazakhstan relations, enrich the connotation of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries, and further enhance the well-being of the two peoples.
Tajikistan is a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Rahmon, China-Tajikistan relations have maintained a good momentum of development, political mutual trust between the two countries has been consolidated, and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded fruitful results, deepened people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and cooperated closely in international and regional affairs. In May last year, the two heads of state jointly announced the building of a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring friendship for generations, solidarity and mutual benefit.
This will be President Xi Jinping's second state visit to Tajikistan in five years. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will hold talks with President Rahmon, have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations, cooperation in key areas, and the international and regional situation, and make new plans and arrangements for the next development of China-Tajikistan relations. The two heads of state will also attend a number of supporting events. China looks forward to working with Tajikistan to take this visit as an opportunity to further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, promote people-to-people bonds, inject new and strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations, and push the China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.
AFP: Italian customs officials announced today that Italy has seized 630 million euros worth of synthetic drugs from China. Italian customs said two Chinese nationals in connection with the case had been arrested in the Netherlands. Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs taken note of this news? Can you tell us more about that?
Mao Ning: I don't know about the specific situation you mentioned. As a matter of principle, China is resolute in cracking down on drug-related crimes and has carried out international cooperation in this regard.
China Daily: We noted that China issued the Beijing Declaration of the Conference to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence after the 70th anniversary of the promulgation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Can you tell us more about that?
Mao Ning: On June 28, the 70th anniversary of the promulgation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence was held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. As the organizer of the commemorative event, China issued the Beijing Declaration of the Conference to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence after the event, reflecting the important views of all participants.
All sides believe that the promulgation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence is of epoch-making significance. Over the past 70 years, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have endured over the years, rising from Asian wisdom to open, inclusive and universally applicable basic norms governing international relations and international law, making indelible historical contributions to the cause of human progress.
All parties believe that promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is a historical necessity to uphold and promote the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence under the new situation. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind inherits the spiritual connotation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and at the same time develops innovatively on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, giving the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence a new connotation of the times. All parties actively echoed the "six-point proposal" put forward by President Xi Jinping in his important speech at the commemorative conference, and reaffirmed the importance of upholding sovereign equality, upholding mutual respect, following the path of peaceful development, pursuing win-win cooperation, defending international justice and justice, and demonstrating openness and inclusiveness.
All parties believe that the "Global South" is a key force in advocating and practicing the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and that it is necessary to work together as a stabilizing force for peace, a backbone for open development, a force for building global governance, and a force for promoting mutual learning among civilizations, so as to make greater contributions to strengthening South-South cooperation, promoting North-South cooperation, and promoting human progress. All sides appreciated China's important measures to support cooperation in the Global South.
China stands ready to work with all parties to implement the broad consensus reached at the commemorative events, promote the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and create a better future for human society.
NHK: The US State Department released its 2023 International Religious Freedom Report last week, noting that the Chinese government has "monitored and suppressed" Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and criticized the Chinese government's "genocide" against Uyghurs. Do you have any comment?
Mao Ning: The so-called "report" by the US side ignores basic facts, is full of lies and disinformation, adheres to ideological bias, and deliberately slanders China's religious policies. China firmly opposes this.
The Chinese Government protects citizens' freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law, and the people of all ethnic groups in China enjoy full freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law. At present, there are nearly 200 million religious believers of all kinds, more than 380,000 religious professionals, about 5,500 religious groups, and more than 140,000 religious activity sites registered in accordance with the law. The facts are obvious to all and brook no distortion or slander.
The so-called "genocide" is an outright lie fabricated by the US side. From the first national census in 1953 to the seventh national census in 2020, the Uyghur population in Xinjiang increased from 3,607,600 to 11,624,300. The growth rate of the Uyghur population is not only higher than that of the population of Xinjiang as a whole, but also higher than that of the entire ethnic minority population, and significantly higher than that of the local Han population. At present, Xinjiang has social stability, economic development, ethnic unity, religious harmony, and improved people's livelihood. Ignoring objective facts, the US has repeatedly hyped up lies and fallacies, with the real purpose of creating a pretext for containing and suppressing China.
In the United States, the politicization of religion, church scandals, and the prevalence of cults are everywhere, incidents of religious discrimination and persecution have emerged one after another, and "religious freedom" has been seriously infringed upon.
We urge the US side to respect the facts, correct its mistakes, and stop using the so-called religious issue to interfere in China's internal affairs.
AFP: 17-year-old Chinese badminton player Zhang Zhijie passed away after competing in Indonesia on Sunday night. Does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have any further information or comments on this?
Mao Ning: We have learned the sad news. After learning of the incident, the Chinese Consulate General in Surabaya immediately contacted and coordinated the Indonesian side to make all-out efforts to treat the incident, and sent personnel to the place where the incident occurred. We deeply regret and mourn the unfortunate passing of the person concerned and express our condolences to his family.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to guide the Consulate General in Surabaya to do a good job in follow-up work within the scope of its duties.
Global Times: US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spokesperson Faith Marco said on November 28 that China is working with France, Italy, Pakistan and the European Space Agency on a mission to collect samples from the far side of the moon, but has not sought NASA's involvement. While China welcomes scientists from all over the world to participate in the study of lunar soil, it has not invited NASA directly. Do you have any comment?
Mao Ning: The Chinese government is open to China-US space exchanges and cooperation. The Chang'e-6 mission has made a global announcement of opportunities, and we welcome countries around the world to participate in the study of lunar samples. The US seems to have forgotten the existence of the "Wolf Clause" and other domestic laws, and does not know whether US scientists and relevant institutions will be allowed by their own governments to participate in exchanges and cooperation with China.