1. What do you think is the significance and role of the current G20 summit hosted by Saudi Arabia? What are the most pressing issues and the most important challenges facing this summit?
Answer: The century-old changes in the world today and the global pandemic are superimposed on each other, unilateral protectionism is on the rise, globalization is facing headwinds, the international situation is turbulent, the global economy has fallen into the worst recession since the Great Depression, and the people’s livelihood has been hit hard.
Where will the world go? Is it going to be a beggar-to-beggar neighbor, or is it to work together to overcome the difficulties? At such an important crossroads, as an important platform for global crisis response and a major forum for international economic cooperation, the world looks forward to the G20’s renewed voice of adhering to multilateralism, solidarity and mutual assistance, and solidarity, and uniting the global fight against the pandemic and restoring and rebuilding the world economy. Work together to lead the trend in line with the development of the times and the direction of historical progress.
Since the beginning of this year, under the strong leadership of the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia, the G20 has united to respond to the challenges of the pandemic, and has achieved active and practical cooperation in various fields such as vaccines, macroeconomic policy coordination, dealing with debts of developing countries, trade and investment, digital economy, and personnel mobility. Results. In March, the special summit of leaders was successfully held, which injected confidence into the global fight against the pandemic, pointed out the direction, and was highly praised by the international community. This also confirms what President Xi Jinping said at the special summit that the interests of all countries are connected with each other, and the destiny of mankind is shared. The virus knows no borders or races, and we must join hands to overcome it.
At present, the global pandemic is still severe, and the second wave of shocks is raging, making the task of fighting the pandemic, protecting people’s livelihood, and stabilizing the economy even more difficult. The international community pays close attention to the Riyadh Summit and expects the summit to send a positive signal and come up with practical cooperation proposals. At the same time, in the face of the shortcomings and shortcomings of the current global governance system exposed by the pandemic, all parties are also deeply reflecting and looking forward to the summit to provide answers to the “post-pandemic era” global governance reform.
China believes that the Riyadh summit will not only summarize the G20 cooperation experience this year and plan the next cooperation measures, but also face an important opportunity to point out the direction for improving the global governance system in the “post-pandemic era”. We look forward to the summit to strengthen cooperation in the following areas to respond to major and urgent concerns of the international community.
The first is to firmly practice multilateralism and improve global governance. It is necessary to promote the strengthening of the international system with the United Nations at its core, and to address the shortcomings of global governance exposed by the pandemic, improve the global governance structure, and improve the ability to respond to various global challenges such as public health, climate change, and data security.
The second is to uphold the concept of life first and build a human health community. It is necessary to support the leadership and coordination role of the WHO, accelerate the development, production and distribution of Coronavirus vaccine as a global public product, and promote the availability and affordability of the vaccine.
The third is to strengthen coordination of macroeconomic policies to promote global economic recovery. Take a more positive view of the close ties between countries and maintain the openness and stability of the industrial chain. It is also necessary to protect basic people’s livelihood and cultivate new growth points. In particular, it will release the development potential of the digital economy and create an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory market environment.
The fourth is to place development at the core of international cooperation, focus on the difficulties faced by developing countries, and increase support for countries with particularly severe pandemic and pressure through measures such as debt relief initiatives. Implement the commitments made on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and help developing countries reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as soon as possible.
China has effectively contained the pandemic, is actively promoting the formation of a new development pattern, and is about to launch the 14th Five-Year Plan. China is willing to work with all members to support the leadership of Saudi Arabia, the chairmanship, to ensure the success of the Riyadh summit, strengthen the confidence of the international community to overcome the difficulties, and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.
2. What is the economic and social impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the world and China? What do you think of the rush to develop Coronavirus vaccines in countries around the world?
Answer: The sudden and repeated outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has become the most serious global public health emergency since the end of the Second World War, posing a huge threat to people’s lives and health, and bringing global public health security. The huge challenges have brought severe impacts to all countries and severe damage to the world economy. In the face of the menacing pandemic, the international community did not shrink back. The people of all countries stood by and helped each other through storms, showing the courage, determination, and care of mankind in the face of major disasters, illuminating the darkest moment. As President Xi Jinping pointed out at the opening ceremony of the 3rd China International Import Expo, no matter what risks, disasters, or adverse currents are encountered, human society will always move forward and will certainly be able to move on.
In the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese government has always practiced the concept of people first and life first, scientifically coordinated pandemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and achieved major strategic results. China’s economy is showing a stable turn for the better. In the first three quarters, the economic growth rate has turned from negative to positive, the people’s livelihood is effectively guaranteed, and the goal of building a well-off society in all respects and poverty alleviation will soon be achieved. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China that has just concluded has made a comprehensive plan for the development of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period. China will embark on a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and enter a new stage of development. China has decided to speed up the construction of a new development pattern in which the domestic large-scale cycle is the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promote each other. This will be a more open economic system based on China’s super-large-scale market. China has made it clear that it will implement wider, broader, and deeper opening-up, so that the Chinese market will become a world market, a shared market, and a market for everyone. Let China’s development become an opportunity for all countries, a win-win opportunity, and an opportunity for the future.
Viruses know no borders, and people in all countries have the right to get vaccines and medicines. We sincerely welcome and expect all countries to contribute to the research and development of Coronavirus vaccine. President Xi Jinping solemnly declared on many international occasions that after China’s vaccine research and development is completed and put into use, it will serve as a global public product and make China’s contribution to the realization of the availability and affordability of vaccines in developing countries. China must believe in its word and resolute in its deeds, and will earnestly implement the aforementioned commitments.
China’s vaccine research and development companies have been working day and night to promote vaccine research and development in strict accordance with scientific laws and regulatory requirements, and have achieved gratifying results. 11 vaccines developed in China have entered clinical trials, and 4 of them have been approved for overseas phase III clinical trials. The data show that the safety and immunogenicity are good, and the research and development progress is in the forefront of the world. China has always maintained a positive attitude towards international cooperation in vaccines. It has joined WHO’s “Cooperative Initiative to Accelerate the Development, Production and Equitable Distribution of Coronavirus Vaccines and Drugs” and “Coronavirus Vaccine Implementation Plan” and other multilateral initiatives. We are willing to continue to work with all parties. Actively explore the development of international cooperation on Coronavirus vaccine.
3. How do you comment on the US accusing China of spreading Coronavirus virus to the world? Some people have accused China of insufficient transparency on the spread of Coronavirus pandemic. How do you respond?
Answer: The Coronavirus pandemic is a sudden attack on humans by an unknown virus, which may break out at any time and anywhere. Under the personal command and deployment of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has adopted the most timely, comprehensive, strict, and thorough prevention and control measures, which effectively blocked the chain of virus transmission in the first time. We spent more than a month to curb the spread of the pandemic, reduced the number of new local cases to within a single digit in about 2 months, and achieved the decisiveness of the defense war in Wuhan and Hubei in about 3 months. The results have effectively safeguarded the people’s life safety and physical health. In June of this year, China released the white paper “China’s Action to Fight the Coronavirus pandemic”, which gave the world a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the history of China’s fight against the pandemic. The facts and data are clear at a glance, the time line is clear, and it can stand the test of time and history. .
As the first country to report the pandemic, China has always adopted an open, transparent and responsible attitude to share information with the outside world as soon as possible and actively carry out international cooperation. The measures taken by China are powerful and effective and have been fully affirmed by professionals from various countries, including experts from the World Health Organization.
What I want to reiterate again is that China quickly closed the Lihan Channel on January 23 after scientific demonstrations of human-to-human transmission, and strictly controlled the movement of people across the country. These major measures issued the strongest warning to the world. At that time, China There are only 9 confirmed cases in foreign countries and regions, and only 1 in the United States. On February 2, when the United States closed its borders to all Chinese citizens, the United States announced only a dozen confirmed cases. Some people in the United States ignore basic facts, spread rumors that China is spreading the virus to the United States and the world, label the virus, politicize the pandemic, and stigmatize China. This is entirely out of self-interested political manipulation and the purpose is to pass on it. Contradictions and shirk their own responsibilities have met with increasing opposition and resistance from the international community.
More and more studies and examples show that this pandemic is likely to show multiple outbreaks in many places around the world. We hope that all parties can respect facts, respect science, concentrate on fighting their own pandemic, and at the same time vigorously carry out international anti-pandemic cooperation.
4. In the post-pandemic era, how will China maintain international peace, security and global governance?
Answer: The world today is facing unprecedented changes. Coronavirus pneumonia pandemic has accelerated the development and evolution of the changes. After the pandemic, the world cannot go back to the past, and it needs to face and open up the future. When President Xi Jinping attended the series of high-level meetings on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in September this year, he clearly stated that China will firmly uphold multilateralism, firmly uphold the authority of the United Nations, firmly follow the path of peaceful development and win-win cooperation, and firmly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. A series of new major initiatives and measures were announced, reflecting China’s role in promoting international peace and development. China will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with the international community, including Saudi Arabia, to support multilateralism and the role of the United Nations, maintain international peace and security, and promote common Develop, reform and improve the global governance system to make greater contributions.
5. What is your opinion on protecting digital security to achieve a balance between security and development?
Answer: Currently, new technological revolutions and industrial changes are sweeping the world, and mankind has entered the digital age. The in-depth integration of digital technology and the real economy has spawned new models and new business formats, and injected new momentum into economic growth. In particular, the explosive growth and massive accumulation of global data have become the source of power for economic development and industrial innovation in various countries. At the same time, data security risks are increasing rapidly. Large-scale network surveillance in other countries has occurred from time to time. Infringement of personal privacy is not uncommon. Supply chain security has aroused widespread concern.
Safety and development are one body, two wings and two driving wheels. The two conditions and support each other. Leaving development to pursue absolute security will lose opportunities for the development of the digital economy, and security has become a source of water and a tree without roots. Individual countries abused the pretext of “national security” to arbitrarily suppress leading companies in other countries, weakening the prospects for global digital economy development cooperation, and ultimately hindering their own development. Similarly, development cannot be at the expense of safety. Avoiding necessary safety supervision measures will make it difficult for the digital economy to maintain a healthy and strong development.
In order to maintain global data and network security, and promote the development and cooperation of the digital economy, China has proposed the Global Data Security Initiative, advocating countries to maintain the openness, security and stability of global supply chains, and opposing the use of information technology to damage or steal other countries’ critical infrastructure. Data, stop infringement of personal information or engage in large-scale surveillance against other countries, and must not force domestic companies to store overseas data in the country, and must not directly retrieve overseas data from companies or individuals without the permission of other countries, and companies must not set in products and services Backdoors or use users’ dependence on the product to seek improper benefits.
Since the proposal was put forward, the international community has paid wide attention. Countries generally believe that it is indeed necessary to formulate global data security rules and appreciate China’s efforts to maintain global data security. China is willing to discuss relevant issues with all parties under the G20 framework, and welcomes all parties to put forward their own views and inject reasonable connotations into the initiative. China is willing to work with all parties to promote the establishment of global data network security rules that reflect the wishes of all countries and respect the interests of all parties, and create a peaceful, safe, open and cooperative cyberspace.
6. During the presidency of US President Trump, Sino-US relations have cooled and even threatened each other, adopted economic and trade boycotts, and apps such as Tiktok were banned by the US. What do you think is the reason for this situation?
A: The root cause of the serious difficulties in Sino-US relations lies in the fact that some US politicians view Sino-US relations from a cold war zero-sum mentality. They are unwilling to recognize and respect China’s right to development and unwilling to see emerging economies succeed in the world. Such unilateral bullying thinking violates the basic norms of international relations, violates the rules of fair market competition, and violates the inevitable trend of human development and progress. It is unpopular and unsustainable. In today’s globalization, countries have long become a community of mutual interests. Any attempt to blackmail the development achievements of other countries and suppress the development space of other countries will not work. It is hoped that the United States will return to rationality, treat the development of China and other emerging economies in an objective and fair manner, meet China’s direction, and push China-US relations back to a healthy and stable development track as soon as possible.
7. Some observers believe that some Western countries such as the United States have conflicts with China over the Uyghur Muslim issue. What’s your comment on this?
A: The accusations made by the United States and other Western countries against China on Xinjiang-related issues have no basis at all. Xinjiang-related issues are not human rights, ethnic or religious issues, but anti-violence, terrorism, and anti-separatism issues. In the past few years, Xinjiang was the entry point for international terrorism to infiltrate China. The “three forces” were rampant and thousands of violent terrorist activities took place, causing a large number of innocent casualties and property losses. In order to maintain national security, maintain the stable development of Xinjiang, and maintain the safety of people’s lives and property, the People’s Government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has responded to the strong voices of the people of all ethnic groups and adopted anti-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in accordance with the law on the basis of learning from the international community’s anti-terrorism experience. The relevant preventive counter-terrorism measures have been effective. There have been no violent terror cases for nearly four consecutive years. The rights to life, health, and development of all ethnic groups have been protected to the greatest extent, the peace and happiness of people’s lives have been realized, and the sovereignty of the country has been safeguarded. , Unity and Security. At the same time, Xinjiang has always guaranteed the rights of people of all ethnic groups to participate in the management of state affairs on an equal basis and to independently manage the affairs of their own ethnic groups in the region. The normal religious activities of people of all ethnic groups are protected by law, and citizens’ freedom of religious belief is guaranteed in accordance with the law.
The preventive counter-terrorism measures taken by China’s Xinjiang region are not essentially different from the counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts of many countries, including Saudi Arabia. The international community generally gave positive comments on China’s policies on Xinjiang-related issues. Since the end of 2018, more than 1,000 delegations from more than 90 countries including the Saudi ambassador to China have visited Xinjiang and witnessed the excellent situation of social stability, ethnic harmony and economic development in Xinjiang. In the general debate of the Third Committee of the 75th UNGA in October this year, 48 countries including Saudi Arabia jointly spoke in support of China’s Xinjiang-related policies. These countries speak up out of justice, showing that justice and justice in the international community are the mainstream.
Using Xinjiang-related issues to create alarmist rumors cannot withstand any factual test. A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie. We welcome all unbiased people to take a walk, take a look, and get to know the good life of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
8. What are your comments on the Yemen crisis and the Riyadh Agreement? What do you think of the situation in Libya and Syria?
A: China pays close attention to the situation in Yemen, supports the maintenance of Yemen’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, supports the legitimate government of Yemen, supports the political settlement of the Yemen issue, supports parties to the conflict in achieving a ceasefire, and supports the United Nations in playing the role of the main channel of mediation. It is hoped that all parties concerned will put the interests of the country and the people first, earnestly implement the Stockholm Agreement and the Riyadh Agreement, and continue to advance the political settlement process. As a permanent member of the Security Council and a friendly country to Yemen, China has done a lot of work to promote peace and talks and provided assistance within its capacity. China is willing to continue to work with the international community to promote the early settlement of the Yemen issue.
Recently, there have been positive trends in the situation in Libya. The military delegations from both sides of the conflict signed a ceasefire agreement and held a series of political and military dialogues. China welcomes this. China always believes that there is no way out by military means, and the problem of interest can only be solved through political means. First, we must earnestly respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Libya, and oppose external forces’ interference in internal affairs. Second, we must adhere to the general direction of political settlement. China supports the UN’s mediation role and welcomes the participation of neighboring countries, the Arab League, and the African Union. The process of political settlement of the problem; the third is to adhere to the two-pronged approach of political negotiations and counter-terrorism to prevent foreign terrorist fighters from flowing across the border. China sincerely hopes that all parties concerned will meet each other halfway, earnestly implement the ceasefire agreement, resume dialogue at an early date, and call on the international community to form a joint force to play a positive role in returning to peace and tranquility. China will, as always, work with all parties concerned to make active efforts to achieve a political settlement of the interest issue and to usher in peace at an early date.
The current situation in Syria has generally eased, and the process of promoting the political settlement of the Syrian issue is facing new opportunities. China has always maintained that a political settlement is the only way out for the Syrian issue, safeguarding Syria’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, advocating the principle of “Syrian-owned and Syrian-led” to advance the process of political settlement of the Syrian issue, and cooperating to eradicate terrorist forces in Syria . An early and proper settlement of the Syrian issue is in the interests of the Middle East countries. China hopes that the Syrian people will get rid of the crisis as soon as possible and re-enter the path of security, stability and peaceful development. China is willing to strengthen communication with countries in the Middle East and work together to play a constructive role in resolving the Syrian issue at an early date.
9. How do you judge the current situation and development trend of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia? What do you think of the current tensions between Turkey and Greece?
A: Since the armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia broke out in the “Naka” area at the end of September, the international community has paid great attention. Under the active mediation of Russia, the Ayas and Ayas reached a new ceasefire consensus on November 10, 2020. China welcomes and appreciates this and hopes that the parties concerned will earnestly implement the ceasefire consensus and return to the track of political negotiations as soon as possible through peaceful means. Resolve differences and disputes and resolve problems through dialogue and consultation. China is willing to work together with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in the settlement of the “Naka” issue.
Turkey and Greece are both important countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. Maintaining a good relationship between the two parties is conducive to regional peace and stability and conforms to the common interests of regional countries and the international community. China is pleased to see that both Turkey and Greece have recently expressed their willingness to resolve disputes through negotiations. China hopes that the two sides will firmly grasp the general direction of promoting regional peace, stability and development, resolve historical issues and resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation, and jointly promote regional development and prosperity.
