CCTV: New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is about to wrap up his official visit to China. Chinese leaders met and held talks with him and the two sides released a joint statement on the comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a series of documents on cooperation covering such areas as agriculture, education, science and technology and intellectual property rights. What do you think of the visit?

Mao Ning: New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is on an official visit to China which started on June 25 and will last till June 30. During the visit, President Xi Jinping met with him. Premier Li Qiang held talks with him. Premier Li and Prime Minister Hipkins jointly witnessed the signing of a series of bilateral cooperation documents on science and technology, education, agriculture, forestry, quarantine, food safety and intellectual property rights. Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, met with the visiting Prime Minister as well. The Joint Statement between the People’s Republic of China and New Zealand on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was released.

The Chinese side considers the visit a trip that has contributed to mutual understanding, deepened mutual trust and expanded cooperation. The leaders of the two countries had positive, candid and constructive conversations on China-New Zealand relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest and jointly charted the future course and provided strategic guidance for bilateral relations. President Xi Jinping noted that China-New Zealand relations have long spearheaded China’s relations with developed countries. It is important to carry forward that spirit, achieve more “firsts” and consolidate and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership. Prime Minister Hipkins said that New Zealand’s relationship with China is “one of our most significant” and strong. New Zealand attaches high importance to growing ties with China and hopes that this visit will bring more cooperation opportunities and take our bilateral relations to new heights. 

The sustained, sound and steady growth of China-New Zealand relations has brought tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries and contributed to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region. China stands ready to work with New Zealand, actively deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, continue to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples.

AFP: According to reports, the Taiwan authorities recently turned down applications by officials of nine provinces on China’s mainland to participate in a tourism fair in Taipei. Do you have a response to this?

Mao Ning: This is not a question about China’s foreign affairs.

Global Times: According to reports, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent interview that it is no secret that there are differences between the US and China. The US will continue to stand for its interests, stand up for its values and continue to do things and say things that China doesn’t like. What is your comment?

Mao Ning: China is dissatisfied with the comments made by Secretary Blinken. The US pursues a misconceived China policy which stems from a misguided China perception, seeks to block, contain and suppress China and has been attacking and smearing China’s image to interfere in China’s internal affairs. What the US has said and done violates the basic norms governing international relations. China has every reason to firmly oppose that.

I would like to stress again that mutual respect is the basic principle for countries dealing with each other and an essential ingredient for China and the US to find the right way to get along. China urges the US to stop making irresponsible comments and honor its commitments with concrete actions.

TASS: Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, said on Wednesday that a visit by members of Congress to Taiwan does not mean a change in the US’s Taiwan policy. This is not Executive Branch travel, he said, adding that the US is not seeking to incite tensions or to change the status quo. What’s China’s comment?

Mao Ning: There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. We firmly oppose any form of official interaction between the US and the Taiwan authorities. All US government bodies, including the executive, legislative and judicial branches, should act on the foreign policy the US government has affirmed and committed itself to. The US needs to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués and refrain from sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” forces.

Dragon TV: Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna issued a statement on June 26, saying that Japan’s plan to dump radioactive waste in the Pacific Ocean is not merely a nuclear safety issue. It is rather an ocean, fisheries, and health issue with the future of our children and future generations at stake. This is an issue of significant transboundary and transgenerational impacts, and has the potential to set a precedent for deliberate, unilateral dumping of nuclear waste into our ocean. New approaches are needed. The way forward should involve comprehensive international consultation not only through the IAEA platform but through other relevant platforms such as UNCLOS and the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (the London Convention). Do you have any comment?

Mao Ning: As a fellow Pacific Rim country, China fully shares the concerns of Pacific Island countries. All along, there has been strong questioning and opposition from the international community over the Japanese government’s unilateral and wrong decision to dump the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean. The world is gravely concerned about the impact of this act on marine environment and people’s health. However, there have been signs that the Japanese government will probably start the ocean discharge soon regardless of international and domestic opposition, meaning that humanity will have to face the nuclear pollution risks stemming from Japan. 

Ocean discharge is clearly not the safest or best way to dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water. Japan’s decision is based entirely on minimizing economic cost. Such discharge violates Japan’s obligations to protect and preserve the marine environment as outlined in UNCLOS and other international law and the provisions against dumping radioactive wastes from man-made structures at sea in the London Convention.

The Pacific Island countries’ call for further discussions of the discharge plan under such frameworks as UNCLOS and the London Convention merits full attention from the international community. China once again urges Japan to face the world’s concerns squarely, deliver on its international legal obligations, stop proceeding with the ocean discharge plan, handle the nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, safe and transparent way and subject itself to rigorous international oversight.

AFP: The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress officially passed the Law on Foreign Relations of the People’s Republic of China on Wednesday, which will come into force on July 1, 2023. Could you elaborate a little bit on the law, plus ways it will be applied?

Mao Ning: The Law on Foreign Relations of the People’s Republic of China is the first basic law that fully outlines China’s major policies, principles and positions, and systems and structures concerning China’s interaction with the world, and provides the overall rules and regulations on China’s foreign relations. This piece of legislation has a foundational and guiding role in China’s legal system on foreign affairs. Its main function is to lay out the guiding principles for China’s diplomacy in general and set out the fundamental and principled provisions for the work in various fields on foreign relations.

This legislation embodies the goal of China’s foreign policy which is to safeguard world peace and promote common development. It reflects China’s strong hope for peace, development and win-win cooperation. It reaffirms China’s conviction in building a community with a shared future for mankind, building a new type of international relations, and promoting the common values of humanity. The legislation is also a clear demonstration of China’s determination and commitment to defend national sovereignty, security and development interests and uphold international fairness and justice.

CCTV: Yesterday, the “Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-US People-to-People Friendship Forum” was held in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the event. He wrote in the letter that amity between peoples holds the key to the relationship between countries, and the people are the cornerstone of flourishing bilateral ties. Could you share more details with us? What expectation does China have for the exchanges between the Chinese and American people going forward?

Mao Ning: Yesterday, the “Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-US People-to-People Friendship Forum” was held with success in Fuzhou, Fujian Province with the theme of “inherit the torch of friendship and create a better future together”. Members of the Kuliang Friends and people from various sectors in China and the US attended the lively event. 

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the event, in which he noted that the stories of the Kuliang Friends have shown once again that the Chinese and American peoples can transcend difference in system, culture and language, and build up a profound friendship. Amity between peoples holds the key to the relationship between countries, and the people are the cornerstone of flourishing bilateral ties. “I hope that you will continue to write the Kuliang story and carry forward the special bond, so that the friendship between our two peoples can stay forever strong and robust like the pair of thousand-year-old cedar trees in Kuliang,” he wrote.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US, people-to-people exchanges have been fruitful. We now have 284 pairs of sister provinces/states and cities, covering 90 percent of states and cities in the US. Mechanisms such as the China-US Agriculture Roundtable and the China-US Sister Cities Conference are productive and brought about a series of cooperation projects. As we put the pandemic behind us, subnational, people-to-people, cultural, educational and think-tank exchanges are warming again. People-to-people exchanges between China and the US have been a booster for the growth of the bilateral relations.

The Chinese government has always supported the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and hopes that the US will respond to the wishes of the people and move in the same direction with China, act on the common understandings reached by the two presidents in Bali, support wide-ranging communication and cooperation including people-to-people exchanges, and bring the China-US relations back to the track of sound and steady growth.

Bloomberg: The Wall Street Journal reports that the balloon that flew over the US, which the US government alleges was a spy balloon, was equipped with American-made surveillance gear. This would appear to contradict China’s assertions that the balloon was a weather device that was blown off course. Does the foreign ministry have a response? 

Mao Ning: I’m not aware of the sources of the report. As China has stated on many occasions, the unmanned Chinese civilian airship drifting over the US was an entirely unexpected accident caused by force majeure. The US calling it a “spy balloon” is nothing but smear against China.

AFP: US Treasury Secretary Yellen said in a recent interview that she hopes to travel to China to reestablish contact with Chinese leaders. Does China have the plan to receive Secretary Yellen soon?

Mao Ning: China and the US are in touch about dialogue and communication at various levels. As for your specific question, I’d refer you to competent Chinese authorities.