On April 21, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defense Minister Dong Jun will chair the First Ministerial Meeting of China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue in Beijing. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono and Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin will attend the meeting in China.
CCTV: President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to Cambodia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of King Norodom Sihamoni’s coronation and the Khmer New Year. This is President Xi Jinping’s second visit to Cambodia in nine years and the last stop of President Xi’s trip to Southeast Asian countries. Can you share more information about the visit?
Lin Jian: From April 17 to 18, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Cambodia at the invitation of the Cambodian side. During the visit, President Xi Jinping met with King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk respectively, met with President of the Cambodian People’s Party and President of the Senate Samdech Techo Hun Sen and held talks with Prime Minister Hun Manet. Leaders of the two countries jointly witnessed the exchange of 30-plus cooperation documents. The two sides issued the Joint Statement Between the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Cambodia on Building an All-Weather China-Cambodia Community with a Shared Future in the New Era and Implementing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. King Norodom Sihamoni presented the National Order of Independence — Grand Collar to President Xi Jinping.
A highlight of the visit is that leaders of the two countries agreed to build an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era. President Xi Jinping noted during the visit that the two sides should continue working from this new starting point to implement the updated action plan on building the China-Cambodia community with a shared future, and accelerate the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. President Xi emphasized the importance to make good use of the China-Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee, advance the “2+2” strategic dialogue between the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries, and step up exchanges through party-to-party, legislative and other channels. The two sides should vigorously advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and continually enrich the “Diamond Hexagon” cooperation framework. The two peoples should deepen mutual understanding and friendship, and promote civilizational exchanges and mutual learning. President Xi underscored that China and Cambodia, as important forces of the Global South, must keep to their shared values of peace, solidarity and cooperation, oppose unilateralism and bullying, and practice true multilateralism. The two sides must firmly resist bloc rivalry and camp-based confrontation, strengthen coordination and cooperation within frameworks such as ASEAN and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, and jointly safeguard the hard-won peace and development in the region.
The friendship between China and Cambodia dates back thousands of years. Amid the changing international landscape, China and Cambodia have honored the commitments to each other, come to each other’s aid in difficulties, firmly supported each other on issues bearing on our core interests and major concerns, and set a stellar example of big and small countries treating each other as equals and with sincerity and trust, and pursuing mutual benefit. China stands ready to work with Cambodia to deliver on the important common understandings between President Xi and Cambodian leaders, further deepen political trust at a higher level, expand higher-quality mutually-beneficial cooperation, consolidate security safeguards at a higher level, carry out more frequent cultural and people-to-people interactions, strengthen strategic coordination with a higher standard, advance the building of an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era, and provide more stability and certainty to the world fraught with changes and instability. As Asia embarks on a new journey towards collective revitalization, China will continue to seek an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood, follow the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and share weal and woe with our neighbors, deepen the friendship and cooperation with Cambodia and other neighboring countries, bring more benefit of Chinese modernization to neighboring countries, jointly build a community with a shared future with our neighbors, and jointly advance the modernization of Asia.
Reuters: Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said China was supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia and said his government also has intelligence that China was producing weapons on Russian territory. Zelenskyy said he would be able to provide more details next week on that. Does China have a response to these remarks?
Lin Jian: China’s position on the Ukraine issue remains consistent and clear. We have worked actively for a ceasefire and to promote peace talks. We have never provided lethal weapons to any party to the conflict, and strictly controlled the export of dual-use articles. Ukraine knows that clearly and has said publicly that most of Russia’s imported military components came from the U.S. and other Western countries. China firmly opposes groundless accusations and political manipulation.
China Daily: To follow up on the First Ministerial Meeting of China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue in Beijing, could you share with us more details of the meeting, including its background?
Lin Jian: China and Indonesia are good neighbors facing each other across the sea and good partners with a shared future. This year marks the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties. Under the personal guidance of the two leaders, China and Indonesia have set up and started the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue mechanism. This is the first foreign and defense ministerial dialogue mechanism established by China, which demonstrates the strategic importance and high level of China-Indonesia cooperation. Last year, President Xi Jinping and President Prabowo Subianto met twice and agreed to hold the first ministerial meeting of China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue as early as possible.
At the meeting, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defense Minister Dong Jun, and Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono and Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin will exchange their views on bilateral relations, bilateral cooperation on political security and defense, international and regional cooperation, and other issues. China stands ready to work with Indonesia to follow the strategic guidance of the two presidents, make full use of this dialogue mechanism as an important platform and elevate our friendship, mutual trust and strategic coordination to a higher level.
AFP: The U.S. State Department yesterday accused the Chinese satellite company of supporting Yemen’s Houthis in attacking U.S. interests in the region. Does China have a response to this?
Lin Jian: I’m not familiar with the specifics you mentioned. Since the situation in the Red Sea escalated, China has been playing a positive role to ease tensions. Who is promoting talks for peace and cooling down the situation, and who is heightening tensions with sanction and pressure? The answer is rather clear to the world. China urges relevant countries to do what is conducive to regional peace and stability, not otherwise.
Shenzhen TV: This Sunday, April 20, marks the 16th UN Chinese Language Day. We noted that this year’s theme is “Poetic China: Rhymes and Romance.” China’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Permanent Mission to the UN and other International Organizations in Vienna, and Permanent Mission to the UN Office at Geneva hosted a variety of celebration activities and showcased traditional Chinese culture such as poetry, calligraphy, painting and tea tasting. The events were quite well received. What’s your comment?
Lin Jian: Congratulations on the 16th UN Chinese Language Day. As President Xi Jinping said, civilizations thrive through exchanges and mutual learning. From the poetry reading in New York and the Chinese Language Video Festival in Geneva, to the calligraphy and painting exhibitions featuring bamboo slips in Vienna, those events celebrating the occasion presented not just the history and culture embodied by the Chinese language, but also the Chinese philosophy of advocating harmony without conformity and helping others succeed while seeking one’s own success. It is good to see more and more people learning the Chinese language, and more foreign journalists raise questions in Chinese at our regular press conferences.
The extensive use of the Chinese language at multilateral fora such as the UN is an epitome of the deepening China-UN cooperation. Eighty years ago, the Chinese delegates were the first to sign the UN Charter using a Chinese calligraphy brush. Since then, China has firmly defended the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, upheld the UN-centered international system, supported the important role of the UN in international affairs and the effort for peace and development, deepened the mutual learning among cultures, and promoted world peace and development.
As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “It’s the combination of different ingredients that makes the soup delicious.” A language is a vehicle of history and more importantly, a bridge to the future. We hope that more people will be able to use Chinese as a bridge to read and understand China and the world. We are also ready to work with countries around the world to bridge divisions through dialogue and approach differences with mutual accommodation, to form a community with a shared future for the world, and promote together the diversity and vibrancy of its civilizations.
Reuters: The new United States Ambassador to Japan who landed in Japan today said that the U.S. and Japan need to work together to align their defense forces to “push back against a country like China.” Does the Ministry have any comment on those remarks?
Lin Jian: I have not seen reports on that. Let me stress that the duty of a diplomat is to foster friendly ties between countries rather than vilify other countries, sow discord and stoke confrontation. China has always been a force for peace, stability and progress in the international community. The world sees very clearly who is flexing muscles, inciting confrontation and threatening peace.
Bloomberg: The Trump administration announced last night that America was taking measures to add extra fees for Chinese-built or -operated ships docking in U.S. ports. Does the Foreign Ministry have any comment on this action?
Lin Jian: We’ve stated our position on relevant questions. Let me reiterate that such measures as imposing port fees and levying tariffs on cargo handling facilities hurt the U.S. itself as well as others. The move not only hikes global maritime shipping costs and disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains, but also increases inflationary pressures in the U.S. and hurts the interests of American consumers and businesses. The practice will ultimately fail to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry. We urge the U.S. to respect facts and multilateral rules, and immediately stop its wrongdoings. China will take necessary measures to defend its lawful rights and interests.
