URUMQI: Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, reiterated China’s stern position on issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, urging the US to not interfere with China’s domestic affairs under any excuse.
Yang made the remarks in a telephone conversation on Friday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the request of the US side.
Noting that the issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong concern China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and involve China’s core interests, Yang urged in the phone conversation that the US side to respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, not to interfere in China’s internal affairs under any pretext, and not to damage China’s core interests in any way. The issues related to Xinjiang are not so-called human rights or religion issues, Yang stressed.
Seeing violent and terrorist incidents on the rise in Xinjiang, the Chinese government took resolute actions to safeguard public safety, Yang said, adding that the Chinese moves are totally justified. The US side has fabricated various lies about Xinjiang in an attempt to sabotage the stability and unity in Xinjiang, which confuse right and wrong and are extremely absurd. China is firmly opposed to such actions, Yang said. Yang said Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, and Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs.
The aim of improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is to safeguard the constitutional order of the HKSAR as defined in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, and ensure that “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” with patriots as the mainstay, he said. It is a common practice in the world to make strict requirements on the patriotic stance and political qualifications of those who govern, Yang said, adding that those clamoring for “Hong Kong independence” are not eligible to participate in the administration of Hong Kong and must be punished by the national security law in Hong Kong.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
