Chinese ambassador faces up to questions from German mainstream media

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Huang Panyue
Time
2020-07-08 18:30:20

Twelve daily newspapers and websites of Funke Mediengruppe, one of Germany’s three largest daily newspapers and magazine publishers, published an exclusive interview with the Chinese ambassador to Germany H.E. Wu Ken by Jörg Quoos, the group’s Editor-in-Chief central editorial office, on July 2, 2020.

Jörg Quoos asked sharp questions about some of the current hot issues, including whether the recently promulgated Law of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) may cause critics to be banned, whether China should be punished for the COVID-19 pandemic and whether the situation in the South China Sea would deteriorate. Ambassador Wu Ken gave direct and frank answers correspondingly.

Question: Mr. Ambassador, China’s newly enacted Hong Kong National Security Law will sanction the so-called “subversion activities”. Every critic may be silenced. Is this the understanding of democracy in China, as a to-be world power?

Answer: The root cause of the Hong Kong issue lies in colonialism and imperialism. The British Empire seized Hong Kong Island and began to colonize the territory in 1842. This is also the beginning of a century of humiliation in modern China. Anyone talking about the Hong Kong issue today must not forget this history.

For more than a year, so-called Hong Kong “independence forces” and radical thugs have become increasingly rampant under the intervention of external forces, which has shrouded Hong Kong society in the shadow of “dark violence.”

This not only distressed millions of Hong Kong citizens but also distressed 1.4 billion Chinese people. Their actions have posed a major and urgent real danger to China’s national security. No sovereign state will sit idly by on such serious acts that endanger national security.

Question: But many Hong Kong residents just want to peacefully protest that Beijing has exerted too much influence on Hong Kong. Do you want to shut them all up?

Answer: Hong Kong’s national security law only targets four types of clearly defined crimes, including acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security. These behaviors also constitute crimes in Western countries.

The vast majority of Hong Kong residents and foreigners who are law-abiding and law-abiding absolutely have no need to worry about being affected by the national security law. In addition, the law clearly stipulates that the state protects the rights and freedoms of the residents of the HKSAR, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, etc.

Question: If the German foundations based in Hong Kong criticize China’s freedom rights, how will the new national security law deal with it? Is it possible that foundation representatives might go to prison?

Answer: This is not a matter of expressing criticism, but of adhering to the rule of law. Every foreigner in Hong Kong, whether working for a foundation or an enterprise, must abide by local laws, just as every foreigner in Germany must abide by laws of Germany.

Question: Is China worried about international sanctions because of Hong Kong’s security law?

Answer: The so-called US sanctions will not scare us. On the contrary, this makes us even more convinced that the enactment of the national security law in Hong Kong is completely correct, very important and very necessary.

The US announced that it would cancel the special treatment for Hong Kong in terms of trade, and in fact, they lifted a rock only to have their own toes squashed. You know, the US receives a trade surplus of $30 billion from Hong Kong every year.

Question: US President Donald Trump has filed a compensation claim with China on the grounds of the global pandemic. Will China pay for it?

Answer: Such requests are thoroughly populist and lack any basis of international law. Who should pay for bird flu, swine flu, and HIV?

The purpose of President Trump is to use this to divert his attention and shift the blame. What's more, the origin of the virus has not been scientifically determined.

Question: China is testing a COVID-19 vaccine in the military. What is the progress of vaccine research and development in China?

Answer: At present, six vaccine preparations have entered clinical research in China, and three of them are about to enter clinical phase 3 trials. Chinese side believes that vaccine research and development is not a game of competition between countries, but a fight between humans and viruses. President Xi Jinping has announced that China’s COVID-19 vaccine will be provided as a global public product after it has been developed and put into use.

Question: Will China donate or sell vaccines to other countries?

Answer: We support WHO’s core role in this area and agree that priorities should be given to developing countries, especially African countries.

Question: Controversy over the boundary of the South China Sea has caused concerns. China has brought some islands and reefs into its administrative jurisdiction recently. Many people in the West are asking, why does China adopt such a radical foreign policy?

Answer: China is the first to have discovered and explored and exploited South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters, and effectively exercised jurisdiction over them. China’s territorial sovereignty was never questioned before the discovery of abundant oil and gas resources in the South China Sea in the 1970s.

China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace. We oppose the illegal occupation of Chinese territory by some countries. At the same time, we are committed to settling disputes through direct dialogue with the countries concerned based on the basic principles of international law. Chinese side is deeply concerned about the frequent military activities of certain countries outside the region in the South China Sea because they are the major destabilizing factor.

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