Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council Ding Xuexiang will attend and address the opening ceremony of the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, Guangxi on September 24.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will deliver a video address. Foreign leaders and senior officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in Charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers of Cambodia Vongsey Vissoth, Deputy Prime Minister of Laos Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Viet Nam Ho Duc Phoc, and Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn will attend the opening ceremony.

Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Chen Wenqing will attend the first meeting of China-Uzbekistan law enforcement and security cooperation mechanism in Uzbekistan and visit Uzbekistan and Tajikistan upon invitation from September 23 to 28.

CCTV: On September 22, Sri Lanka’s Election Commission announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, candidate of National People’s Power, won the 2024 presidential election and become Sri Lanka’s new president. What’s China’s comment? What’s China’s expectation for its relations with Sri Lanka?

Lin Jian: Sri Lanka’s presidential election was held smoothly on September 21. China expresses heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Dissanayake who was elected as Sri Lanka’s new president and was sworn into office. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to President Dissanayake.

China and Sri Lanka are traditional friends and close neighbors. We stand ready to work with President Dissanayake and his new administration to uphold the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, forge greater synergy between our development strategies, deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and strive for new progress in our strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship.

NHK: What’s the Foreign Ministry’s expectation of the upcoming meeting between Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers in New York? What topics will be on the table? Will the two sides discuss China’s resumption of the imports of Japan’s aquatic products and the incident related to the death of the boy from the Shenzhen Japanese School?

Lin Jian: On the meeting between the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as far as I know, the two sides are in communication. If there is anything to share, we will release it in due course.

China Daily: It is learned that the 57th session of the Human Rights Council held an Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan recently. Some representatives at the meeting expressed concerns over women’s rights and interests in Afghanistan. The Chinese representative called for encouraging, in the spirit of equality and respect, the governing authorities of Afghanistan to gradually improve and strengthen protection of women and children’s rights. What is your comment?

Lin Jian: The Chinese government attaches importance to the protection of women’s rights and interests. We noted that the governing authorities of Afghanistan have underlined multiple times the need to respect and protect women’s rights and interests. We hope Afghanistan will deliver on these policy commitments, look at the legitimate concerns of the international community, and work with relevant parties to resolve the issue through friendly consultation.

That said, women’s rights and interests are not the entirety of the Afghan issue, nor the core or root cause of the issue. As a report of the UN Secretary-General pointed out, 23.7 million people in Afghanistan will require humanitarian assistance in 2024, and 12.4 million Afghans are currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. The international community needs to focus on the most pressing difficulties Afghanistan faces, promote the rebuilding and development in Afghanistan, improve Afghan people’s wellbeing, truly protect the human rights of the Afghan people, and at the same time encourage, in the spirit of equality and respect, the governing authorities of Afghanistan to improve and strengthen protection of women and children’s rights. As Afghanistan’s neighbor and a responsible country, China stands ready to work with the rest of the world to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan and playing a positive role in the peaceful reconstruction and protection of human rights in Afghanistan.

Bloomberg: At the Quad summit in the US over the weekend, US President Biden made some remarks on China. He said that China continues to act aggressively and is testing the US and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region. What’s the Foreign Ministry’s comment?

Lin Jian: Quad is identified as the premier regional grouping that plays a leading role in the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy. It is a tool the US uses to contain China and perpetuate US hegemony. The Indo-Pacific strategy attempts to patch up forces to exclude and contain China by peddling the “China threat” narrative, and Quad tries to muster military and security cooperation under the pretext of maritime issues—same intention, same tactics. Though the US claims that it does not target China, the first topic of the summit is about China and China was made an issue throughout the event. The US is lying through its teeth and even the US media does not believe it.

China believes that cooperation between countries should not target any third party or even harm their interests. Any regional initiative should follow the overwhelming trend of the region and promote regional peace, stability, and prosperity. Ganging up to form exclusive groupings undermines the mutual trust and cooperation between regional countries, runs counter to the overwhelming trend of pursuing peace, development, cooperation, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and is bound to fail.

The US needs to get rid of its obsession with perpetuating its supremacy and containing China, stop using regional countries as its tool, stop glossing over the strategic intention behind all kinds of exclusive groupings, and act on its word that the revitalization of its alliances is not targeted at China, instead of seeking selfish gains at the expense of other countries’ strategic security interests and the wellbeing of the people in the Asia-Pacific.

CCTV: What’s China’s expectations for the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit?

Lin Jian: ASEAN is a priority in China’s neighborhood diplomacy and a key region for Belt and Road cooperation. Since the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership in 2021, China-ASEAN relations have maintained sound momentum, with robust growth in cooperation across the board and solid progress in building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. Since 2009, China has been ASEAN’s biggest trading partner, and the two sides have been each other’s top trading partner for four years running. In the first seven months of this year, two-way trade reached US$ 552 billion, up by 7.7 percent year on year. China’s industry-wide direct investment in ASEAN topped US$ 12.96 billion and ASEAN’s direct investment in China stood at US$ 7.3 billion, up by 15.3 percent and 14.1 percent year on year respectively.

China-ASEAN Expo is an important platform to deepen China-ASEAN cooperation and promote economic integration in the region. The theme of this year’s expo is “Upholding amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness for common development, creating a diamond crown new future—promoting development of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 and high-quality growth in the region.” China is ready to work with ASEAN countries to leverage the role of the China-ASEAN Expo, take the upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area as an opportunity, further expand trade and two-way investment, strengthen the connectivity of industrial and supply chains in the region, and unleash the potential of practical cooperation across the board to achieve higher-standard win-win cooperation and build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

Beijing Daily: It’s reported that the Chinese National Emergency Medical Team traveled to Bangladesh on September 22 to provide medical treatment to those who were injured during the recent incident in the country. What’s your comment?

Lin Jian: Relevant information has been released by competent Chinese authorities. At the invitation of Bangladesh’s interim government, the Chinese National Emergency Medical Team traveled to Bangladesh to provide help. During their stay there, the medical team will make full use of its expertise and do its best to provide humanitarian medical treatment.

Let me stress that China and Bangladesh are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic cooperative partners. China stays committed to the policy of good neighborliness and friendship with all people of Bangladesh, and will work with Bangladesh to strengthen exchange and cooperation in various fields and further deepen the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

AFP: Sri Lanka’s new president was sworn into office today. Is China confident that Sri Lanka will continue to honor its commitments to repay China’s loans?

Lin Jian: As Sri Lanka’s friendly neighbor, China hopes to see stability and development of Sri Lanka. China is ready to play a constructive role in Sri Lanka’s steady economic and social development under the principle of non-interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs and with respect for Sri Lanka’s will.

China News Service: It’s reported that on the evening of September 22 Beijing time, the Global Digital Compact was officially adopted at the UN Summit of the Future. What’s China’s comment?

Lin Jian: China welcomes the adoption of the Global Digital Compact at the UN. The compact underlines development as a priority, universal benefit and inclusiveness, innovation-driven development, and preservation of cultural diversity in the digital space, and it aims to foster an open, fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory digital environment. These principles have much in common with the visions of China’s Global Development Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative. The compact proposes to adopt common standards for global data security and hold a Global Dialogue on AI Governance and intergovernmental negotiations. These measures are consistent with what needs to be done to deliver on China’s Global Initiative for AI Governance and Global Initiative on Data Security.

The compact follows the prevailing trend of promoting digital development and cooperation in the world, reflects the urgent call of all countries, especially Global South countries, for efforts to close the digital divide and wipe out governance deficits, and demonstrates the common aspiration of the international community to respond to digital opportunities and challenges, and build an inclusive, open, fair and secure digital space through joint effort and cooperation. The compact shows international support for multilateralism and digital solidarity and cooperation, and provides fresh impetus for global digital governance.

China is committed to promoting global digital governance with the UN as the main channel. We have constructively participated in the whole-process negotiation of the compact, and played an important role in its adoption. Going forward, China will, as always, uphold the principle of planning together, building together, and benefiting together, and work with the international community to promote global digital governance, implement the Global Digital Compact, and build a community with a shared future in the digital world.

Bloomberg: We’ve learned that Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs traveled to Beijing last night to have communication with the Chinese side over the death of the boy from Shenzhen Japanese School. Can you share information on the meeting? Will China release more information about the incident, including the motives of the assailant?

Lin Jian: Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong met with Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tsuge Yoshifumi this morning and the two sides exchanged views on China-Japan relations and issues of mutual interest. The two sides reiterated their stance of valuing and growing China-Japan relations and agreed to work together to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, and comprehensively advance the strategic relationship of mutual benefit. Concerning the death of the boy from the Shenzhen Japanese School, the two sides recognized each other’s effort to properly and calmly handle the tragic incident, and agreed to maintain communication to prevent negative impact of individual case on the bilateral ties.

We’ve learned that the case is still under investigation. The Shenzhen authorities released information on the progress made in the investigation. China will continue to provide as much facilitation and assistance as possible to the boy’s family in handling related matters.

Anadolu Agency: It’s been reported by Israeli media that Chinese Embassy in Israel has asked its citizens to leave the country and return to China in a Sunday night statement. The embassy added that Chinese citizens should not travel to Israel for the time being. What’s the reason for the travel advice and the leave advice?

Lin Jian: We indeed released relevant consular notice. It is our unshirkable duty to protect the safety of overseas Chinese nationals.

Phoenix TV: Many people, mostly local Chinese, laid flowers outside Shenzhen Japanese School last week to mourn the death of the Japanese child. According to the school, as of September 20, it has received over 1,000 bouquets of flowers that were offered to express condolences over the death of the boy and sympathies to his family. What’s your comment?

Lin Jian: I read about this too. The attack was a regretful and saddening tragic incident. The fact that Chinese people are expressing their condolences of their own accord reflects their simplest sentiments of grief and their respect for life. The Chinese culture values kindness, credibility, justice and togetherness. It is a culture for peace and tolerance. Our tradition of welcoming all foreign friends with every sincerity and treating them as our equals will not change. And we will do everything possible to protect the safety and property of foreign nationals in China.

AFP: Quad leaders said in the joint statement that they are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, which apparently refers to China. Has China protested to relevant countries?

Lin Jian: The situation in the East and South China Seas is generally stable. Some country outside the region keeps cobbling together small groupings and tries every means to meddle in maritime issues at China’s doorstep in order to incite bloc confrontation, escalate the situation, and undermine regional peace and stability. Let me stress that no interference from any force will weaken China’s determination in defending its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with law and keeping the region peaceful and stable.

We will lodge serious protests over any act that undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests.

PTI: Further to what you spoke about the Quad summit in the US. The summit also for the first time approved a joint coast guard cooperation at sea. And also they have rather agreed to strengthen cooperation in the Indian Ocean region and recognized India’s leadership in finalizing the IORA Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and expressed support for that. Do you have any comment on this?

Lin Jian: Cooperation between countries should be conducive to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region, rather than focusing on forming exclusive groupings that undermine trust and cooperation among regional countries.

China is open to normal cooperation between relevant countries at sea, but the cooperation should not target other countries or undermine regional peace and stability under any pretext.

AFP: It’s reported that the US Department of Commerce is planning to propose a ban today on the use of Chinese software and hardware on US connected cars and self-driving cars out of national security concerns. Did China communicate with the US on this issue?

Lin Jian: On your specific question, I’d refer you to competent authorities. Let me say more broadly that China opposes the US overstretching the concept of national security and taking discriminatory measures against relevant Chinese companies and products. We urge the US to respect the principles of market economy and provide an open, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies. China will firmly defend its lawful rights and interests.

PTI: You said that China will protest to anyone in violation to security interests. So can we presume that you have lodged a protest to all the Quad countries regarding the comments on the South China Sea and the East China Sea?

Lin Jian: As I said just now, China will protest over any move that harms China’s sovereignty and security interests.

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s new president has said before that he wanted to renegotiate all of the debts with IMF, bondholders, et cetera. I thought the bondholders drafted a deal published on Thursday. The Sri Lanka government said it had finalized with China Development Bank on key financial terms of restructuring the debt. Is there any scope to revisit that with Sri Lanka now that the country has a new president?

Lin Jian: As Sri Lanka’s friendly neighbor, China and Sri Lanka have all along treated each other with mutual respect and support. We hope that Sri Lanka will continue to enjoy national stability and development. We stand ready to play a constructive role for Sri Lanka’s steady economic and social development under the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and with respect for Sri Lanka’s will.

NHK: A follow-up question on the meeting between the Japanese and Chinese vice foreign ministers. According to Japan’s readout, the Japanese side requested regulation on anti-Japan comments on the social media. Has the Chinese side prepared to take more measures?

Lin Jian: On what you referred to as “anti-Japan” comments, let me just say that China does not teach its people to hate Japan. After the attack near the Shenzhen Japanese School, many Chinese laid flowers outside the school to mourn the boy. They expressed opposition to violence and called for ever-lasting friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people.  

We believe that to learn from history is not for perpetuating hatred but for avoiding the tragedy of war from repeating itself, cherishing the hard-won peace and creating a bright future. We stand ready to work with Japan to abide by the four China-Japan political documents, comprehensively promote a strategic relationship of mutual benefit, and build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship fit for the new era.