ambassadors-of-china

"The world today faces both unprecedented development opportunities and structural adjustments unseen in the past centuries. From a historical perspective, we live in a time of rapid scientific and technological progress, huge material abundance, flourishing prosperity of civilizations and rising interdependence among countries. The trend of peace and development has never been stronger. However, we also face the reality of increasing uncertainties and destabilizing factors in human society where intertwined risks appear in multiple fields and new challenges and regional conflicts keep cropping up."

"China-US relationship is probably one of the most complex bilateral relationships in the world. China and the United States are different in our political system, social value, historic and cultural traditions. There is a huge gap in the level of economic and social development, with China being the largest developing country and the US being the largest developed country. In terms of power structure, China is an emerging economy while the US is a strong established power. These differences have decided that we do not see eye to eye with each other on many issues. These differences can also lead to misunderstanding and mistrust in each other’s strategic intentions."

"Corruption is an ulcer in the economic and political life of human society.It threatens national stability, undermines social justice and severely endangers social tranquility and sustainable development.State resources are eroded and economic development is disrupted when and where the flight of proceeds of corruption occurs.Corruption has become a cross-boundary problem affecting the political, economic and social life of every country in the world.It can only be effectively contained and punished through adequate and comprehensive international cooperation."

"China firmly supports necessary and reasonable reform of the Security Council．One of the core objectives of Security Council reform is to increase the representation of the Council, thus making its composition reflects the tremendous changes that have taken place in the number and structure of UN membership．The reform should give top priority to increasing the representation of developing countries, those in Africa in particular. It must reflect the trend of democratization in international relations, and give medium-sized and small countries greater access to the decision making process of the Security Council．"

"The history of five thousand years of the Chinese civilization shows that religion and culture can be positive factors in a society's harmonious development. China is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. In China, 56 ethnic groups treat each other on equal basis; main religions like Buddhism, Taoism, Islamism, Christianity and Catholicism coexist harmoniously and grow continuously. The Chinese culture advocates "harmony and accord". From ancient sages like Confucius and Mencius to pioneers of democracy in modern history, the ideas of "harmony", "harmonious but different" and "working together with one accord in time of difficulties" have been among the main elements of their thinking. Throughout the history of its development, the Chinese civilization has been imbued with the spirit of "harmony", which has as its essence mutual recognition, mutual respect, seeking commonalities while putting aside differences, coexistence and common growth."

"China believes that the media shall voluntarily take the social responsibility to be the messenger of culture of peace and to promote the tolerance, understanding and harmony of the society. Media, as the carrier of information, while seeking speedy and quick dissemination of information to the public, should also pay attention to the quality of information. It is desirable for the media to transmit healthy and truthful information which uphold the moral standard and justice of the society and refrain from disseminating provocative and insulting comment that trigger confrontation among religions and cultures."

"China believes that education is a useful mean to help young people adopt a correct perception of civilization and the world. Young people are the future of the mankind. National government shall take the primary responsibility and introduce long term and effective measures to spread the philosophy of culture of peace, such as tolerance, understanding and respect and improve the ability of the young generation to fend off religious hatred and discrimination."

"China believes that it is necessary to respect differences in order to peacefully address conflicts. Conflicts are often originated from the alienation, discrimination, fear, even hatred caused by differences. The Chinese government has always opposed extremism and all forms of discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance based on religion, race or any other grounds, as well as the attempt to link terrorism to a specific nation, ethnicity or religion. We are concerned with the resurgence of extremism, such as Islamophobia, new fascism. We believes that the international community should work towards the long term resolution of regional hot issues, eliminate the estrangement, misunderstanding and dispute among religions and cultures based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation, and seek win-win outcome and joint development."

"China believes that it is necessary to promote equality among different religions and cultures on the basis of mutual respect. While different religions and cultures originated and developed at different times in history, there is no difference as far as their status is concerned. All religions and cultures are the crystallization of human wisdom and have contributed to the progress and development of human society and as such, they deserve equal respect. Different religions and cultures can in the spirit of openness and sincerity learn from each other's strength and live in peaceful coexistence."

"Religious and cultural diversity is an asset of the human society and an important driving force for social development, cultural exchange and world peace. In today's world, more global problems emerge and the challenges such as terrorism, climate change and food, energy and financial crisis pose grave threat to human development. The fates of all countries are more closely interlinked than ever before. At the same time, racial and religious discrimination has led to unprecedented collisions and shocks among cultures and civilizations. The international community is faced with not only the shared responsibility to enhance cooperation in coping with challenges, but also daunting task to minimize differences and seek common grounds. Against this backdrop, it has become all the more important to strengthen interfaith and intercultural dialogue and cooperation."

"Since the inception of the new century, international situations have undergone complex and profound changes. Against the background of the in-depth development of economic globalization, interdependence among countries is continuously deepening. To peruse peace, promote cooperation and seek development has become the theme of the current era. However, our world is far from peaceful, and destabilizing and unpredictable factors are obviously growing. Blood-shed and clashes resulting from ethnic, religious, territorial issues and other traditional security factors have not become fewer and non-traditional threats to security represented by transnational crimes, epidemic diseases, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are increasing day by day. Mankind is facing an unprecedented severe challenge."

"China' s development needs a peaceful and stable immediate and wider environment. The road of development we are going down is one of peaceful development. Whilst developing ourselves we will do our best to promote world peace, and our own development, in turn, will be an important contribution to world peace. China' s development will not pose any threat to any country. On the contrary, it would only serve the interests of the growth of the global economy, and be conducive to peace, stability and security of the world. We will unswervingly pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and contribute our share to world peace and common development."

"Under the present complicated and fluid international situation, a growing relationship between China and the United States not only serves the interests of our two countries and peoples, but also contributes to world peace, stability and development. China would like to work with the United States in taking our relations forward."

"Presently, what is of special importance is for countries to abandon the mentality that seeks security advantages with military might. Instead, they should embrace a new security concept with mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation at the core. When interests of all countries become increasingly intertwined, it is difficult for any country to attain its security goals single-handedly. We need the rule of law in global affairs and more democracy in international relations. Greater multilateral cooperation and the leading role of the UN in safeguarding world peace and security help us to cope effectively with security threats and maintain common interests."

"China is committed to upholding peace and security in Asia and supports the gradual development of a regional security architecture that meets the reality of the region and the needs of various parties."

"Diversity is a defining feature of human civilizations and an inherent force driving social progress. Isolation leads to estrangement, while communication inspires dynamism. We need to enhance mutual trust through communication and mutual learning, and achieve harmony by seeking common ground and putting aside differences. This way, we can build a solid foundation for peace, integration and common progress of all countries."

"No country can have security while others are in turmoil and no one can be immune from global challenges. When one country pursues development and security at home, it must work for the common development of all and give consideration to the security of others. Only by doing so can we find a path towards common security that is built and shared by all."

"Countries may differ in size and capacity, but are all equal members of the international community. All countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity should be earnestly respected. Their legitimate security concerns and the right of their people to choose their own development path should also be respected. World affairs should be handled by countries working together and differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and consultation."

"In international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have the effective status because there is no international agreement to materialize their status of a sovereign country."

"I'm sure that as long as they are re-educated, the Taiwanese public will once again become patriots."

"We are always open for international cooperation. We are always committed to multilateral cooperation. But frankly, any such cooperation will have to be based on equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect. Otherwise, how can people cooperate with each other if they don't treat each other as equals? This is not our problem. This is the problem for Western countries. They still have to learn how to treat other countries, other races, other civilizations as equals. That's their problem, not our problem."

"As the first country to sign the United Nations Charter after World War II, China has always dedicated itself to safeguarding and contributing to the international order. Over the past 75 years, China, the United States and the world have all gone through tremendous changes, and the growth of our bilateral relations has made significant contribution to the wellbeing of the two peoples and to world peace, stability and prosperity."

"I've always believed that there is a strong element of racism in U.S. policy toward China, only some don't admit it, while others do. The U.S. would spare no effort to suppress, contain, divide and encircle China."

"The United States will not willingly accept the rise of a great power with a very different social system, ideology, cultural traditions and even race."

"Every ounce of our peoples’ gains has been hard-won, and we must not allow them to be plundered by anyone or suffer losses due to our own carelessness, laziness and incompetence."

"In principle, we should not fight a war we are not prepared for, a war we are not sure of winning, a war of anger and attrition."

"However, nothing can sever the friendly ties between the two peoples. Over the past year, I have been much busier than before the pandemic in taking part in various kinds of online meetings and talks, and I was often overwhelmed by the passion from both countries for greater exchanges and mutual understanding. There is no place for McCarthyism in the 21st century, and no one can push the two peoples back to the era of estrangement and isolation."

"It is distressing to see how much damage has been done to our people-to-people exchanges. More and more Chinese students and scholars are questioning if the United States is still an ideal place for education; if academic research can survive political persecution. More and more Chinese tourists are worrying if their visa application would be rejected due to their political belief. More and more Chinese companies are wondering if the “level playing field” touted by the U.S. truly exists."

"Throughout its 100-year history, the Communist Party of China has always upheld its mission to pursue happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation. As China enters a new development stage, we will follow a new development philosophy and foster a new development paradigm. We are deepening reform and further opening up. We are striving to eliminate absolute poverty, protect the environment and address problems resulting from unbalanced and inadequate development. Everything we do is to meet the people’s aspiration for a better life, not to challenge or displace any country. We always believe in harmony in diversity between countries and in a community with a shared future for mankind."

"China is still developing country. Although we have made great achievements over the years, but we know the challenges are still there, huge challenges. We have to continue to work hard to solve all of these domestic problems. We have just lifted everybody out of absolute poverty, but we have to make sure they will not fall back into poverty. This is a very huge challenge. We're also doing our best to improve the environment, to respond to issues like climate change and all these natural disasters. We do have a large number of natural disasters in China, like the situation in the United States. So we are still focusing our efforts on domestic economic and social development to give people the possibility of a better life. Internationally, we stand for building together with other countries a global community with a shared future."

"Climate change is a global challenge. So what is at stake is the global community's interest, not only the interest of our two countries. Of course our two countries have to play an important role in international cooperation to confront this challenge. But this is a true global challenge."

"The fact is, whenever you have a more involvement by the United States, you have greater instability, anywhere in the world. Look at the Middle East, look at some other places like Latin America. It's so obvious that when you are "rebalancing," or "pivoting," whatever the word might be, then there's more instability in that region."

"I don't think we have an entirely new foreign policy. We have been very consistent in our foreign policy. It's an independent policy of peace. Of course we safeguard our sovereignty and independence. There's no doubt about that."

"First of all, China's development, China's growth, has been made possible by the hard work of the Chinese people and our more than 40 years of reform and opening-up. This is a historical fact. To say otherwise is against the facts and certainly not fair to the Chinese people. Internationally, China always stands for the basic norms governing international relations as embodied in the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. We always support multilateral institutions, the international system centered on the United Nations, including, for instance, the WHO, the WTO and a number of others. We already contribute more troops than other permanent members of the Security Council to the UN peacekeeping operations. We are already contributing a great deal to the global economic growth. We're ready to do more."

"I always believe the real foundation of China-U.S. relations is the friendship and mutual understanding between our peoples. So this is the root of state-to-state relations and there's such an infusion among American states, cities and towns and ordinary Americans to learn more about China, to develop friendship with Chinese people, to facilitate cooperation between our two countries."

"Indeed, climate change is a global challenge. We are certainly ready to take part in international cooperation on climate change. But honestly, political climate also has an impact on the efforts to deal with the natural climate. When there is insufficient mutual confidence, mutual trust, mutual respect, how can we work together to confront such a global challenge? I don't think it's quite possible. Even for climate change itself, how will the U.S. and Western countries face their historical responsibility ever since industrialization? How will they shoulder their responsibility to help the developing countries to deal with this challenge? They still have to take actions. They still have to prove they are seriously committed. They are earnest about their international obligations. They still have to prove their sincerity."

"Our goal is to meet the growing aspiration of the Chinese people for a better life. Our goal is not to compete with or replace any other country. This is never our national strategy. Hopefully, people could have a better understanding of this."

"Five years into the 21st century, the international situation is undergoing profound changes while peace and development remain the themes of our times. Economic globalization is steadily moving forward, accompanied by the continuous progress of world multipolarization and breathtaking advancement of science and technology. Forces upholding peace and constraining war are gaining strength. However, we must not fail to see those rising destabilizing and unpredictable factors, the intertwined traditional and non-traditional security threats and rampant terrorist activities. Transnational problems such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), drug trafficking, transnational crimes and illegal migration keep cropping up and have yet to be eliminated once and for all. .. Firstly, enhancing international cooperation to jointly cope with the terrorist threat. With globalization going deeper, countries now find their interests more intertwined and interrelated than before. Thus, such a global challenge as terrorism has to be met with global coordination. For the purpose of stronger international cooperation in this regard, it is critical to anchor the international relations on a more democratic and legal basis and help the developing countries to enhance their counter-terrorism capabilities. .. Secondly, addressing both the symptoms and root causes by paying equal attention to prevention. There are deep and complicated root causes behind the scourge of terrorism. Poverty tends to bring about social injustice, fuel extremist ideas and trigger regional turbulence. They are easily exploited by the terrorist groups. .. Thirdly, upholding multilateralism and giving scope to the role of the UN. Being the most universal, representative and authoritative international organization, the UN serves as an important platform for multilateral cooperation aimed at mutual benefit and win-win results. .. Fourthly, promoting dialogues among civilizations and strengthening exchanges and communication. In a diversified and colorful world, cultural and religious differences among countries exist independent of man's will. These distinctions and differences should all the more encourage us to learn from and complement each other for common progress. We disapprove of linking terrorism with any specific country, ethnic group or religion. .. I hereby wish to reiterate that China unfalteringly condemns and opposes terrorism of all forms. We have stepped up counter-terrorism efforts in the various domestic authorities and taken a series of measures in legislation, aviation, finance and customs to prevent any terrorist incidents. We have taken an active part in the international counter-terrorism cooperation, supported the UN in its leading role in the anti-terrorism campaign and carried out productive bilateral cooperation with the relevant countries."

"In the new century, the trend towards economic globalization has grown stronger. The New Economy has developed at an extraordinary speed. The economic situation in the Asia-Pacific region has undergone many changes. We need to think about ways to cope with these new developments. There is no denying that economic globalization has triggered more fierce market competition worldwide. As major players in economic activities and technological innovation, enterprises are obviously under pressure from competition. However, a wider range of competition implies a wider range of cooperation at the same time. We stand for cooperation amidst competition, common development through cooperation and economic prosperity from common development, which will eventually lead to a better life for all people together."

"Over a hundred years ago, more than 100,000 Chinese laborers crossed the Pacific Ocean and plunged themselves into the opening up of the American West and the construction of the transcontinental railway. There, they sweated away, and even devoted their lives. Also at that time, many Chinese students came to the United States to learn new technology and new knowledge. .. History tells that cooperation benefits both, while confrontation harms both. China-U.S. friendship serves the interests of the people of both countries and the whole world as well. .. The Chinese people want peace and love peace. They have all along believed that "nothing is more precious than peace." They have always wanted to see the world in peace and live in harmony with all the other peoples in the world. This is a tradition that has been deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. .. It is our long-term task to go all out for economic development and steadily improve our people's life. We, therefore, need an external environment of lasting peace more than anyone else. .. China loves peace and freedom. The Chinese nation waged an unyielding struggle for national independence and the democratic rights in modern times. The birth of the People's Republic was a great achievement of this struggle. .. China has a population of 1.26 billion. It is by no means an easy job to ensure so many people their subsistence, development and political rights. It cannot be done overnight. Progress can only be made step by step. .. But the cult is a poisonous tumor of the society. Falun Gong is precisely such a cult that ruins families and human lives. It is not a religion at all. It despises Protestantism, Catholicism, and Buddhism. It fools and entraps people. In order to safeguard the human rights and freedom of the Chinese people, the Government has outlawed the organization in accordance with the law. .. Democracy, freedom, and human rights are the common pursuit of humanity. Countries differ from one another. So it is nothing strange for them not to see eye-to-eye on these issues. What is most important is to respect each other, seek common ground by putting aside differences, and refrain from confrontation. .. Our basic principle on settling the Taiwan question is " peaceful unification and one country, two systems." Once the Taiwan authorities accept the one-China principle, the two sides across the Taiwan Straits may resume talks, and anything can be discussed in such talks. .. The international situation is undergoing profound changes. The world is moving toward multipolarity. Economic globalization has brought countries closer, and the progress in science and technology have given fresh impetus to the human progress."

"Peace in the world and stability in the region are in the best interests of China. The only criterion we use in judging international affairs is to see whether they serve world peace, common development and the interests of the Chinese people and the world people as a whole. We advocate a new security concept. We should try to build up mutual trust through consultations and dialogue on an equal footing. We should seek common security. This is the only way to ensure peace and stability. We believe that to seek absolute security for oneself through stronger military alliance and intensified arms race is out of tune with the trend of the times. It won’t lead to an effective security at all. We stand for democracy in international relations. We believe that all countries are equal members of the international community, regardless of their size, strength and wealth. National affairs of a country should be decided by its people while international affairs should be handled by all countries together through consultations on an equal footing. We will take an active part in the process of economic globalization."

"You have your difficulties, and we have ours. You’re looking for a solution, and we’re also looking for one."

"Deng Xiaoping was the architect of China’s pragmatic foreign policy, but Qian Qichen was the diplomat who carried it out."

"The fact that he rose to become both vice premier and a Political Bureau member is a mark of the high esteem in which he was held by Chinese leaders."

"China is closely following the development of the Ukraine situation (after being attacked by Russia) and supports all efforts that are conducive to easing the situation and seeking political settlement. China noted the relevant parties' statements on the nuclear issue. I want to stress once again that, when it comes to European security, all countries' legitimate security concerns should be taken seriously. When NATO has made five waves of eastward expansion, Russia's legitimate demands should be taken seriously and addressed properly. Relevant parities should exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of the situation."

"Freedom of speech cannot be a reason to incite racial or cultural discrimination and tear society apart. We hope Sweden can earnestly respect the religious beliefs of minority groups, including Muslims."

"And with Xinjiang, Tibet and Taiwan, they are an inalienable part of China's territory. China is firmly opposed to U.S. interference in China's internal affairs. We have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference, and we will take firm actions in response."

"And for China, we will manage our own affairs well, and we hope to deliver a better life for our 1.4 billion Chinese people. This is the goal of China's diplomacy. And also, we will make our contribution to the peace and stability of the world."

"My visits to African countries have impressed upon me that Africa is a land of promise that has come a long way in its development and shown enormous growth potential. With overall peace and stability, African countries are actively pursuing economic diversification and sustainable, home-grown development, and have maintained the strong momentum of growth."

"Our values are the same as the common values of humanity. Those are: peace, development, fairness, justice, freedom and democracy."