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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on October 18, 2021
2021-10-18 19:59

CCTV: Recently, a handover ceremony of Lancang bullet train for China-Laos railway was held in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. According to media comments, China-Laos railway will bring happiness and prosperity to people in these two countries. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: China-Laos railway is a landmark achievement of dovetailing the Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. The handover of Lancang bullet train, an important milestone, signifies that the development of China-Laos railway is going to enter a new phase of operation from construction. It is good and joyful, and will deliver benefits to our peoples.

At the opening ceremony of the Second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference, President Xi Jinping pointed out that "it is imperative that we follow the prevailing trend of world development, advance global transport cooperation, and write a new chapter featuring connectivity of infrastructure, unfettered flows of trade and investment, and interactions between civilizations". President Xi's remarks serve as a guide to the operation of the China-Laos railway. The railway embodies the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and will effectively improve infrastructure and connectivity in Laos and the region to boost sustainable economic development.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Laos, and the China-Laos Friendship Year. China stands ready to take the opportunity to work with the Lao side, to actively dovetail development strategies, deepen comprehensive strategic cooperation, steadily advance the construction of railway and other projects, so as to build a community of shared future between our two countries.

Xinhua News Agency: The symposium commemorating the 30th anniversary of the publication of the white paper on human rights in China was recently held in Beijing, during which in-depth discussions were held on the theoretical significance of the white paper and China's achievements in human rights. What is the foreign ministry's comment on this?

Zhao Lijian: Thirty years ago, The State Council Information Office published a white paper on China's human rights situation. This is China's first release of an official document on human rights. It gives a comprehensive and systematic account of China's basic position and views on human rights and the fact of the Chinese people fully enjoying human rights. It is an important milestone in the development of China's human rights cause.

China has created the remarkable miracle in respecting and protecting human rights and blazed a path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics, bringing tangible benefits to the Chinese people. The happy life and delightful smile of the Chinese people can best reflect and represent China's human rights situation. For a long time, the Chinese people's satisfaction rate of the Chinese government exceeds 90 percent. This is the most powerful response to attacks and smears against China by those with ulterior motives under the guise of human rights.

China's remarkable achievement in human rights development is also a major contribution China has made to the world's human rights cause. China has always earnestly fulfilled its international human rights obligations, conducted extensive exchanges and cooperation on human rights, actively participated in international human rights governance, promoted the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions to enriching and developing the diversity of human rights civilizations. The process of China's realization of great national rejuvenation is also one of realizing social fairness and justice and advancing human rights progress. Looking ahead, we have every reason to believe that China will make greater contribution to the progress of human rights in the world.

Hubei Media Group: On October 15, Russian foreign ministry released information on Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov's meeting with UK Ambassador to Moscow. Ryabkov said that the trilateral security partnership of Australia, the UK and the US (AUKUS) won't facilitate the resolution of the tasks of strengthening the international security and stability, and will create difficulties in the sphere of arms control. Russia hopes that the AUKUS participants can strictly adhere to their obligations of nuclear non-proliferation. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: China agrees with the views expressed by the Russian side on AUKUS.

As China has stressed many times, the establishment of this trilateral security partnership and their nuclear submarine cooperation have a series of seriously negative impacts: First, the three countries, drawing lines along ideology, have built a new military bloc which will heighten geopolitical tensions. Second, it will encourage regional countries to accelerate the development of military capabilities, and even seek to break the nuclear threshold, thus leading to arms race and increasing the risk of military conflicts. Third, the nuclear submarine cooperation poses serious nuclear proliferation risks and violates the spirit of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

I want to stress that this cooperation would be the first time that a nuclear weapon state transfer nuclear submarine to a non-nuclear weapon state. That means the US and the UK will export to Australia highly