Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Mao Ning noted on Monday that no country should violate territorial integrity of another country.
Ning was talking to a group of Cypriot journalists hosted in China by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) in cooperation with the People’s Republic of China in Nicosia, at the presence of Cypriot Ambassador in Beijing, Martha Mavromati.
Asked how China and Cyprus can help each other on the implementation of the ‘one China, one Cyprus’ principle, Mao Ning said that this is a very important issue for both countries ‘how to safeguard the sovereign integrity of each country.’
First of all, she noted, internationally the two countries should uphold the principle that territorial integrity is a core interest of each sovereign state and no other countries should have the right to interfere.
Secondly, she added, China and Cyprus should continue to support each other whether at the Security Council or at the EU or other international fora, ‘as long as we stand together on the principle that sovereign integrity should not be interfered by any other country.’
‘That is how I understand the situation, internationally to uphold certain principles is very important,’ she said.
Replying to another question, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson underlined that Cyprus is located in a very important area adding that as stability and peace in that area affects developments in other areas of the world, ‘China is doing its best to promote a dialogue and a negotiation so that the regional countries could safeguard the peace and stability for themselves.’ And in that sense that would be beneficial for all of us, she added.
Mao Ning also noted that China is a big country in size, population, economy, indicating that within that framework, the country tries its best to play a responsible role in international affairs. ‘China is now more and more active, more and more involved in international issues. We are doing our best to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the world,’ she said.
Noting that ‘currently the international order is still dominated by western powers’ she indicated that developing countries ‘need to stand up for each other, stand up united to safeguard their rights.’
Mao Ning stressed that people get to know China through the so called international mainstream media and that those media maybe controlled by western countries, especially the US, indicating that subsequently ‘there is a lot of fake news, disinformation, intentionally and unintentionally.’
‘The truth is that the world cannot get a good understanding on China only by reading western newspapers,’ she stressed.
During the discussion with the Cypriot press group Ning noted that China started reforming and opening the country approximately 40 years ago, explaining that before that Chinese people experienced hunger. ‘We didn’t have enough food, we didn’t have decent housing not even basic living conditions, Chinese people suffered a lot,’ she said
During these decades, she added, China developed very rapidly, ‘we provided a better life for our people,” she said, and “a peaceful environment for us to develop in.’
‘We wish that our next generation will have a better environment and a better living’ Mao Ning underlined, adding that ‘to do that, war is not an option’, on the contrary, ‘peaceful development is the goal’ and that ‘Chinese people love peace.’
‘Each country has its right to develop. Each has the right to provide its people with a better life. And that is the responsibility of every government,’ she pointed out.
Earlier the Cypriot press group met with Deputy Director of the Ministry’s Department of European Affairs Qi Han and observed Chinese MFA’s weekly press briefing.
Cypriot journalists also met CPIFA directors and were hosted for diner at CPIFA premises located at the building complex of the Forbidden City.
Source: Cyprus News Agency