China reaffirms commitment to strengthen economic ties with Pakistan, says Chinese FM spokesperson

BEIJING:

In an apparent reference to the United States, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Thursday said that the financial policies of a ‘certain developed country’ were the main reason behind the financial difficulties of a large number of developing countries including Pakistan and called on concerted efforts of all parties to play a constructive role in the economic and social development of the country.

“It must be pointed out that the financial policy of a certain developed country is the main reason behind the financial difficulties of a large number of developing countries including Pakistan,” Mao Ning said while responding to a question during her regular briefing held at the International Press Centre (IPC) in Beijing.

She said that the West-led commercial creditors and the multilateral financial institutions were the basic creditors for developing countries and called on concerted efforts of all parties to play a constructive role in the economic and social development of Pakistan.

“China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperation partners and iron-clad friends. The two sides have supported each other,” Mao highlighted.

“China always carries out economic and financial cooperation with Pakistan and helps Pakistan to achieve steady economic growth, improve its livelihood and achieve independence development,” she added.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

On the Ukraine issue, she said that China’s position has all along been objective and fair. “We are committed to promoting talks for peace and working for the political settlement of the crisis. We always stand firm on the side of peace and dialogue,” she added.

Mao said that the US has been pouring lethal weapons into the battlefield in Ukraine, fanning up the flames and spreading disinformation, saying that China was firmly against that.

“The US keeps saying that territorial sovereignty must be respected, but on the Taiwan question, the US has been walking on the edge and pushing the envelope. The US has broken its own political commitments and been selling sophisticated weapons to China’s Taiwan region. The US says there’s desire for peace to prevail, yet it has waged wars and stoked confrontation around the world. The US says it’s important to respect and uphold the international order, yet it has slapped massive unilateral sanctions and put its domestic laws above the international law. The US says competition must be fair, yet it has been cracking down foreign companies by using all kinds of state apparatus and defying international trade rules,” she pointed out.

She said that the US needs to reflect on itself, stop sowing confusion, stop trying to mislead the world and stop making presumptions about others based on the US’s own behaviour.

“The US needs to step up to its responsibility, help deescalate tensions and promote dialogue and stop pointing fingers and discrediting other countries.”

The spokesperson said that the G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

“We look forward to working with fellow G20 members to stay committed to solidarity and cooperation, focus on its mandate and main function, and play a bigger role in addressing major global economic and financial challenges, bringing about a stable global economic recovery and promoting global development,” she added.