The Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Latvia, Liang Jianquan, answers questions from the editor-in-chief of Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze.
What is the position of the People's Republic of China on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related topics, such as the Russian military invasion of an independent state, Russia's decision to recognize the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Western economic sanctions against Russia and the expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland?
The Ukraine crisis is still ongoing and has had a shock and an impact on Europe and the international community. China deeply regrets that the situation in Ukraine has reached this point. China's basic position on Ukraine can be summed up as the “four necessities”, namely respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, respect for the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, taking seriously the legitimate security concerns of all states, and support for all efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully. Since the outbreak of the crisis, China has adhered to the principles of autonomy, impartiality and justice, and has promoted peace talks and played a constructive role in de-escalating the situation. China will adhere to the above-mentioned guidelines, provide support and hope that Russia and Ukraine will overcome the difficulties and continue the peace talks.
China believes that sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem and will create new problems. We see that the growing sanctions in Europe, including Latvia, and even globally, are having a serious impact on energy, transport, food, supply chains and other areas.
China welcomes all international efforts to promote peace talks, and all parties involved should support Russia and Ukraine to achieve peace through negotiations.
China's position on European security is consistent and clear. We hope that all sides will respect the principle of indivisibility of security, respect each other's legitimate concerns, adhere to a unified, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, and build a balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture through dialogue and discussion. Only in this way can we truly achieve lasting peace and stability in Europe.
Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Ukraine and Russia have been partially excluded from the global market. This has had a serious impact on energy and fuel prices, as well as grain and vegetable oil prices, which also creates risks of hunger and social instability in many developing countries. How will this challenge affect the Global Security Initiative and Global Development Initiative proposed by the People's Republic of China?
Peace and development are still the motives of our age, but they face many challenges. The instability and uncertainty facing the world is considerable. Against this backdrop, last September, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Global Development Initiative at the UN General Debate, calling on the international community to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, create a global development community focusing on key areas of cooperation such as poverty reduction, food security, fighting epidemics and developing vaccines, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy and connectivity to achieve a stronger, greener and healthier global development. More than half a year after the launch of the initiative, more than 100 countries have already expressed their support and the United Nations Friends of the Global Development Initiative has 55 member countries. All parties welcomed the Global Development Initiative and worked together to strengthen policy dialogue, exchange best practices and promote practical cooperation, which has already yielded early results.
At the same time, to cope with common global challenges and promote global security, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in April this year, stressing that security is a prerequisite for development and that humanity is an integral security community. The vision of a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable concept of security, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, respecting the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, taking seriously the legitimate security interests of all States, and resolving differences and disputes among States through peaceful dialogue and consultation, while maintaining overall security in traditional and non-traditional areas, should be pursued. This important initiative inherits and promotes the spirit of the UN Charter, provides a fundamental solution to the peace deficit and contributes to China's solution to international security challenges.
The Ukraine crisis is currently affecting the normal development of international trade and the stability of industry and supply chains, threatening global food, energy and financial security. China stands ready to conduct in-depth exchanges with all parties on the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative through the United Nations platform and multilateral and bilateral channels to provide wisdom and energy and promote political solutions to various international and regional hotspot issues, and maintain world peace.
President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping at the Opening Ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 said: “The Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace, and bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century.” Can you describe China's initiatives to reduce the level of conflict between China and the US?
At the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia 2022 Conference, President Xi Jinping delivered the keynote speech "Rising to Challenges and Building a Bright Future Through Cooperation", stressing that unity is the greatest strength and solidarity is the most effective method to break through the fog and move towards a bright future. Over the past two years and more, the international community has worked hard to meet the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and to promote global economic recovery and development. The difficulties and challenges further demonstrate that humanity is a community with a shared future. Countries need to follow the trends of an era of peace, development and mutually beneficial cooperation, move in the right direction to build a community with a common future for humanity, join hands to meet the challenges and build a bright future through cooperation.
As permanent members of the UN Security Council and the world's two largest economies, the steady development of China-US relations serves the common interests of both countries and the world. China opposes defining the China-US relationship as a competitive one, and confrontation is not in the interest of the two countries or the world. Any attempt to restrain China will never succeed. The facts show that China and the US will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Cooperation is the only right choice. That is the lesson learned since the resumption of relations between China and the United States half a century ago.
At the moment, China-US relations are increasingly facing challenges because some people in the US have been sending the wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” forces and trying to “use Taiwan to control China”, which is very dangerous. The Taiwan issue concerns the political basis of China-US relations, and if it is not dealt with properly, it will have disastrous consequences. The US side must adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint statements, and deal with Taiwan issues in a prudent and correct manner.
President Xi Jinping suggested that the new era of China-US relations should adhere to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation, thus pointing to the direction of development of China-US relations. President Biden responded positively and made important commitments, such as not seeking a new Cold War, not seeking to change the Chinese system, not seeking to oppose China by strengthening alliances, not supporting "Taiwan independence" and not planning to confront China. China has always viewed and dealt with China-US relations in accordance with the three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping. It is to be hoped that the US will honor the promises made by President Biden. In the current international situation, strengthening dialogue and cooperation between China and the US, as well as properly managing differences and avoiding conflicts and confrontations, serve the interests of the two peoples and meet the expectations of the international community.
The EU and China have different strategies to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. How would you describe China's strategy to stop the pandemic? The epidemic situation in Shanghai and other parts of China seems to be over for the moment. How would you assess the outlook for China’s economic development this year?
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the Chinese government has always put people and lives first and stuck to the "dynamic zero-Covid" policy, which has achieved initial results in preventing and controlling the pandemic and ensured stable economic and social performance.
China's "dynamic zero-Covid" policy is not to achieve zero infection but to control the epidemic in the shortest possible time at the lowest social cost, and to protect human life and health as well as normal production and living conditions to the maximum extent possible. This is the strategy with the lowest overall social cost. The "dynamic zero-Covid" policy is a scientific decision based on many factors, such as China's large population base, large elderly population and uneven distribution of medical resources between regions. It is thanks to the adherence to the "dynamic zero-Covid" policy that, since March this year, China's pandemic prevention and control has passed its toughest test since the fight against the pandemic in Wuhan and has achieved progressive results. The pandemic situation in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities is now gradually improving. Practice has shown that the Chinese government's prevention and control policy stands the test of time and that our prevention and control measures are scientific and effective.
At the same time, the Chinese government has continuously adjusted prevention and control measures according to the times and circumstances to ensure sustainable, healthy and stable economic and social development with good prevention and control results, while maximizing the protection of human life and health. In 2020, China became the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth. In 2021, its GDP exceeded 110 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.1% over the previous year. Since the beginning of this year, the international situation has been turbulent, with global pandemic continuing to spread and geopolitical conflicts escalating, some unexpected factors exceeding expectations and increasing pressure on the economy. Despite this, in the first quarter of this year, the Chinese economy grew by 4.8% year-on-year. In the first four months, the value of China's total foreign trade imports and exports rose by 7.9%, fixed asset investment increased by 6.8%, industrial production rose by 4%, consumer prices rose by 1.4% and the unemployment rate was 5.7%.
Looking ahead, there are still many favorable conditions for the Chinese economy to maintain solid growth throughout the year, despite some temporary pressures. First, the recovery trend in consumption is expected to continue; second, the stimulating effect of investment is expected to increase; third, the pace of industrial upgrading and development is expected to accelerate; fourth, green and smart transformation will drive improvements; fifth, the benefits of opening up are becoming clearer. Overall, the fundamentals of China's long-term economic growth have not changed, nor have the opportunities for high potential, resilience and broad development. China can effectively cope with various risks and challenges and bring positive energy to the world economy.