At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Beninese Foreign Minister Shegun Adjadi Bakari will pay an official visit to China from March 28 to April 1.
CCTV: On March 26, a terrorist attack on the vehicle of the Dasu Hydropower Project undertaken by a Chinese company in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan left several people dead or injured. What’s the latest update on the investigation and handling of the attack? What action does China plan to take? How will the attack affect China-Pakistan cooperation and bilateral relations?
Lin Jian: We strongly condemn this act of terrorism. We express deep condolences over the lives lost and extend sincere sympathies to the bereaved families. We have previously stated our position on this incident.
Immediately after the attack, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan activated the emergency response mechanism and swiftly engaged in emergency response and close communication with Pakistan both in Beijing and Islamabad. We asked Pakistan to speed up the hunt for the perpetrators, punish them by law, let justice be done for the victims, and take effective steps to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel in Pakistan. Pakistan promised to thoroughly investigate the incident, provide timely updates on the progress of the investigation, step up security measures for Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan, and ensure the safety of Chinese nationals in Pakistan. Relevant work is proceeding in an orderly way.
We have noted the condemnation on the terrorist attack and condolences over Chinese victims from some countries. This is much appreciated. We reiterate that terrorism is a common enemy of humanity. It’s the shared responsibility of the global community to fight terrorism and stop such tragedies from happening again. China firmly supports Pakistan in fighting terrorism. We are solid in our commitment to the safety and security of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects overseas. China and Pakistan have the resolve and capability to make the terrorists pay the price. Our two countries are all-weather strategic cooperative partners. Our iron-clad friendship is deeply rooted in the two peoples. No attempt to sabotage China-Pakistan cooperation will ever succeed. China will continue supporting Pakistan’s socioeconomic development and efforts to make lives better for its people, and we remain firm in our commitment to working with Pakistan in various fields and delivering more benefit to the two peoples.
Xinhua News Agency: Nauru President David Adeang is paying a state visit to China. Can you brief us on the visit? What important common understandings and results have been achieved during the visit? What’s China’s expectation for the prospects of China-Nauru relations?
Lin Jian: At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Nauru President David Adeang pays a state visit to China from March 24 to 29. During President Adeang’s stay in Beijing, President Xi Jinping held talks with him and Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji met with him respectively.
President Xi Jinping noted during the talks that all friendships have a bright future, no matter when they began; and all cooperation based on sincerity, no matter its size, will be fruitful. The two presidents had in-depth exchange of views on growing China-Nauru relations and issues of common interests. They reached important common understandings, laid out top design and blueprint for growing the bilateral ties and ushered in a new chapter of the history of China-Nauru relations. After the talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents in areas of Belt and Road cooperation, the Global Development Initiative implementation, economic growth and agriculture.
The two sides issued the Joint Statement Between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Nauru. The two sides agreed that the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Nauru on the basis of the one-China principle is in line with the trend of history and the times, and meets the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples. All countries, regardless of size, strength and wealth, are equals. The two sides will firmly support each other in upholding sovereignty, security and development interests. The two sides agreed to strengthen political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, and be good friends and good partners that respect each other and develop together.
This visit demonstrates the distinctive character and historical tradition of treating all countries as equals in China’s diplomacy, and provides strong impetus for the growth of China-Nauru relations. China stands ready to work with Nauru to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of our two countries on all fronts, lend each other firm support, expand practical cooperation, and advance cultural and people-to-people exchanges to jointly benefit the two countries and peoples.
China News Service: When asked about Trump’s threat to slap high tariffs on Chinese cars made in Mexico, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on March 25 that Mexico doesn’t want to and will not wage a trade war with China. He mentioned that China will continue to invest in Mexico and Mexico has very positive economic ties with China and the US. He also appreciated China’s assistance with relief supply procurement for Acapulco. What’s China’s comment?
Lin Jian: China appreciates President López Obrador’s positive statement on China-Mexico economic and trade ties. Both China and Mexico advocate a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. China and Mexico are good friends and partners for common development. Mutual benefit is a defining feature of our economic ties. China stands ready to work with Mexico to deliver on the important common understandings reached by the two presidents at the summit meeting in San Francisco and deepen the China-Mexico comprehensive strategic partnership.
RIA Novosti: The UK High Court announced on March 26 that it has adjourned its final decision on the appeal of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange against his extradition to the US. He may continue to appeal to the UK court against his extradition to the US. What is China’s comment on this?
Lin Jian: We noted the reports. WikiLeaks founded by Julian Assange brought to light a great amount of secret information behind the US wars on Afghanistan and Iraq and CIA-led hacking attacks. The world is watching what will happen to Assange’s human rights conditions and what will become of him. Many have expressed sympathies for him. Justice should not be denied.
Reuters: Given the recent attack in Pakistan, we would like to ask if the new Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Sharif will still be visiting Beijing?
Lin Jian: China and Pakistan maintain sound interactions at all levels. As for the specific visit you mentioned, I have nothing to share at the moment.
CCTV: It’s reported that Amadou Ba, the candidate from Senegal’s ruling coalition, issued a statement on March 25 in which he conceded defeat in the presidential election and offered his congratulations to the opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye. What’s China’s comment?
Lin Jian: We noted those reports. It’s good to see that Senegal’s presidential election was held in a peaceful and orderly way. We congratulate Bassirou Diomaye Faye on winning the election.
China and Senegal are good friends and brothers. China deeply values its ties with Senegal and stands ready to work with the new government of Senegal to deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and further advance our bilateral relations.
Bloomberg: President Xi Jinping met earlier today with 24 US corporate executives and other people. I saw Hua Chunying just posted a photograph for that meeting. Can you give us the names of everyone who attended? And can you also tell us what President Xi said at the meeting?
Lin Jian: This morning, President Xi Jinping met with representatives of US business, strategic and academic communities at the Great Hall of the People. President Xi Jinping shared with them China’s position and views on China’s development, China-US relations and business cooperation, among other topics. Some of the US participants also made remarks at the meeting. A readout will be issued very soon. Please check back for updates.
PTI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister is currently visiting China and has been holding meetings with the Chinese leadership. Can you provide us any details regarding discussions related to China-Sri Lanka debt relief efforts? Sri Lanka has been asking China to provide debt relief and China has been separately handling the debt-related issues with Sri Lanka other than the rest of the creditors that have given loans to Sri Lanka. Can you please provide some details regarding this?
Lin Jian: We have released information on Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister’s visit to China which you may refer to.
China has provided support to Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic development to the best of our capacity. We stand ready to continue working with relevant countries and international financial institutions to support Sri Lanka in achieving debt sustainability. On your specific question, I’d refer you to competent Chinese authorities.
Shenzhen TV: The 2024 Report on the Work of the Government calls for modernizing the industrial system and developing new quality productive forces at a faster pace. Many in the world believe that China’s faster development of new quality productive forces will lay a solid foundation for high-quality development and provide impetus to the development and advancement of technology in other countries. What’s your comment?
Lin Jian: High-quality development is one of the intrinsic requirements of Chinese modernization. To develop new quality productive forces is what is needed and should be prioritized in seeking high-quality development. To advance new quality productive forces, the key is to boost China’s own scientific innovation. In recent years, China has further implemented the innovation-driven development strategy and achieved fruitful results in areas such as manned spaceflight, quantum information, nuclear power technology and airliner manufacturing. What we have achieved in becoming an innovation-driven country has helped us better meet domestic demand and benefited people in other countries.
China’s clean energy technology is a case in point. China is firmly committed to energy revolution. We’ve put clean energy front and center in energy development. When developing clean energy at home, we have shared with the rest of the world China’s technologies, products and initiatives, greatly contributing to global clean energy development. In 2023, 510 gigawatts of installed renewable energy capacity were added in the world, over half of which were added in China. New energy vehicle production and sales in China accounted for over 60 percent in the world. In Southeast Asia, China’s clean energy companies are active investors. Viet Nam has become a major importer of China’s wind turbines, and Thailand has become a major production base of photovoltaic industry. In Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco and Qatar, Chinese companies are heavily involved in large-scale clean energy projects and fuel the local energy transition. In Africa, China has implemented over 100 clean energy and green development projects. We help Africa embark on a path of sustainable development and add new jobs for the locals.
Clean energy is just one example of how China contributes to global development by speeding up the growth of new quality productive forces. In such areas as digital economy and artificial intelligence, new quality productive forces also play an important role in advancing global development and countries’ technological transformation. Over the past year, guided by the path of Chinese modernization, China made all-out effort in promoting economic recovery and growth and accomplished main targets for economic and social development, contributing over 30 percent to global economic growth. Looking forward, China will continue to advance high-standard opening up, attract outcomes of innovation worldwide and high-quality advanced production factors and resources, and create favorable conditions for developing new quality productive forces. We are convinced that new products, new technologies and new business forms emerged from the growth of new quality productive forces will expand the space for global economic sharing and common development, and inject new vitality and impetus for global development.