China slams ‘malicious attack’
Washington applies double standards, Tokyo betrays region’s interests, says FM spokesman
China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the recent US-Japan joint statement, which maliciously attacked China’s foreign policy, seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs and attempted to damage China’s interests, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on March 17.
“We have lodged solemn representations separately with the United States and Japan,” Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.
Zhao made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on a US-Japan joint statement issued after the “2+2” talks on March 16 between the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers. The joint statement expressed the two sides’ concerns over multiple issues related to China.
“China’s behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military and technological challenges,” the statement said.
“Japan resolved to enhance its capabilities to bolster national defense and further strengthen the Alliance. The United States underscored its unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan through the full range of its capabilities, including nuclear.”
China urged the US and Japan to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop forming “small cliques” targeting China, Zhao said.
Firstly, he emphasized that the international system with the United Nations as its core is the only system in the world, and that the only set of rules in the world is the basic norms governing international relations, based on the purposes of the UN Charter.
“The United States and Japan have no right to unilaterally define international relations, let alone impose their own standards on others,” Zhao said.
Secondly, China has always been an important force in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, he said. China has established partnerships with 112 countries and international organizations, joined more than 100 intergovernmental international organizations, signed over 500 multilateral treaties, and is the largest contributor of peacekeeping forces among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The US has always followed double standards, applying international laws and rules when they suit its own interests and abandoning them when they do not, Zhao said. The US has not been at war for only 16 years of its nearly 250-year history, and has hundreds of military bases worldwide.
“The international community will have a fair judgment on who is the biggest threat to world peace,” Zhao said.
Thirdly, China’s position on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, the South China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands is consistent and clear, and China is firm in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests.
China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters, and over the Diaoyu Islands and adjacent waters, Zhao said.
Issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang are China’s internal affairs and brook no foreign interference, Zhao said, adding that the joint statement made by the US and Japan ignored facts and truth, acting as further proof of collusion
between the two countries, interfering in China’s internal affairs, and an unpleasant example of slandering and discrediting China.
Fourthly, the US and Japan are sticking to the Cold War mentality, deliberately engaging in group confrontation and trying to create an anti-China encirclement.
“It is completely going against the trend of the times,” Zhao said, pointing out that the move by the two countries is against the common expectations of the vast majority of countries, both in the region and globally, for peace, development and cooperation. “Their move will only bring chaos or even conflict to the region, revealing the truth to the world that it is the USJapan alliance that undermines peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Fifthly, in order to satisfy its own interests in deterring China’s rise and rejuvenation, Japan is willing to rely on others and act as a strategic vassal of the US. “It is shameful and repugnant for Japan to betray its promises and undermine China-Japan relations; and betray the overall interests of the region by inviting wolves into its house,” Zhao said.
“China will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Zhao said.
On March 16, Beijing called for cooperation that promotes peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, while denouncing allegations made by the US and Japan against China.
“Communication and cooperation between the United States and Japan should be conducive to enhancing the mutual understanding and trust among regional countries,” Zhao said.
Xu Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ National Institute of International Strategy, said it is totally unreasonable for the US and Japan to make such a remark against China.
“The US and Japan are trying to strengthen cooperation by painting China as a common enemy. It is not conducive to regional stability,” he said.
Liu Qingbin, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Sciences at Yokohama National University in Japan, said it is obvious that the US is trying to amplify the existing disputes between China and Japan with this visit.
Washington’s efforts to foment unrest in the region and interfere in China’s internal affairs are deeply rooted in the US willingness to gloss over China’s development and its increasing contribution to the world, Liu said.