Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on October 29, 2021
2021-10-29 19:17

CCTV: China has announced that President Xi Jinping will attend through video link the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit. Could you talk about China's expectations for the summit?

Wang Wenbin: With the continued spread of COVID-19 and accelerated changes and adjustments in the international economic landscape and global governance system, the world economic recovery is fraught with instability and uncertainty. The G20, as a premier platform for international economic cooperation, should adhere to true multilateralism, uphold the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, seek common ground while shelving differences, build consensus on combating COVID-19, revitalizing the world economy and promoting inclusive and sustainable development and jointly address common challenges. China stands ready to work with all sides for a successful Rome Summit to contribute to an early global victory over COVID-19, and the steady recovery and growth of the world economy.

Xinhua News Agency: Will China be represented physically at the Rome Summit?

Wang Wenbin: President Xi Jinping will attend the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit through video link. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the summit in person in Rome as President Xi's special representative.

Shenzhen TV: On October 28 local time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with State Councilor Wang Yi in Belgrade. Can you share some information?

Wang Wenbin: From October 27 to 28, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Serbia, where he met respectively with President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic, and had talks with Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic.President Vucic invited State Councilor Wang Yi to jointly meet the press after their meeting.

The Serbian side said, China is Serbia's most reliable, precious and greatest friend, and the two countries enjoy well-deserved iron-clad friendship. Serbia thanks China for its firm support for Serbia in defending independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and fully agrees with and is ready to actively join and implement the Global Development Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping. It will unswervingly pursue a friendly policy toward China, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and jointly implement the major Belt and Road projects, so as to continue to scale new heights in bilateral relations.

On his part, State Councilor Wang said, upholding and developing China-Serbia friendship fully meets the trend of development and represents the right side of history. China is proud of the iron-clad friendship between the two countries, and will continue to redouble efforts in developing China-Serbia friendship and cooperation. China firmly supports Serbia in defending national independence and dignity and in playing a more active role in regional and international affairs.

China and Serbia agreed to support each other in safeguarding sovereignty, independence and national dignity, firmly uphold the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, advance high-quality BRI cooperation and translate China-Serbia traditional friendship into more tangible outcomes of cooperation that will better benefit the two peoples.

Bloomberg: News reports say that Tajikistan has accepted a Chinese proposal to build a police outpost on the Afghan border, which is the latest sign that Beijing is worried about security concerns in the region after the US left Kabul. Does the foreign ministry have a comment on this?

Wang Wenbin: I answered a related question yesterday, which you may refer to. I can also confirm that there is no Chinese military base in Central Asia.

China Review News: On October 28, China officially submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions report to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Could you share more information with us?

Wang Wenbin: On October 28, China's UNFCCC national focal point officially submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat "China's Achievements, New Goals and New Measures for Nationally Determined Contributions" and "China's Mid-Century Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategy". Yesterday I also talked about the recently released "Action Plan for Carbon Dioxide Peaking Before 2030" and the white paper titled "Responding to Climate Change: China's Policies and Actions". These are all concrete measures China has taken to implement the Paris Agreement. They demonstrate China's sense of responsibility and represent its latest contributions to global efforts in addressing climate change.

As a responsible major country, China will continue to contribute to global climate governance. We also call on the international community, especially developed countries with historical responsibilities for past greenhouse gas emissions, to work together under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and contribute their due share to advancing global climate governance.

Beijing Youth Daily: In recent days, the spokesperson of the foreign ministry has made elaborate and comprehensive responses to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's Taiwan-related statement. I want to follow up on a specific part. Blinken particularly stressed that Taiwan's meaningful participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one. US officials also claimed that China "abused" UNGA Resolution 2758. Do you have any response to that?

Wang Wenbin: The relevant remarks by the US side are a distortion of historical facts. Here, I'd like to shed some light on the truth.

Fifty years ago, before the UNGA reviewed the draft resolution submitted by Albania and Algeria, known as Resolution 2758, the US and some other few countries put forward the so-called reverse-IQ draft resolution and the "dual representation" draft resolution in order to retain the Taiwan authorities' seat. The former required that any proposal to deprive Taiwan of representation at the UN would require a two-thirds supermajority for approval, and the latter required accepting the representatives of the PRC while retaining the representation of Taiwan. The reverse-IQ draft resolution failed to pass. With the adoption of Resolution 2758, the PRC has fully restored its lawful seat at the UN. The "dual representation" proposal by the few countries including the US immediately became null and void.

The historical facts have clearly shown that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. The Taiwan region is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The system, agencies and the Secretariat of the UN should abide by the one-China principle and UNGA Resolution 2758 when dealing with Taiwan-related affairs. These principles have been universally recognized by the international community since half a century ago.

The one-China principle brooks no challenge and Resolution 2758 cannot be distorted. Fifty years ago, the attempt by a few countries to reject the one-China principle and obstruct the passing of Resolution 2758 was foiled. Fifty years later, anyone that tries to challenge the one-China principle and Resolution 2758 will suffer a greater defeat.

Bloomberg: Do you have any more information on a possible summit between Xi and Biden this year?

Wang Wenbin: We have answered the question many times and have no more information to offer.