Foreign Ministry Responds to US Ship Sailing Through the Taiwan Strait: The United States Should Stop Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble, "Crossing the Line" and "Playing with Fire"

Chinese Foreign Ministry Responds to US Ship Sailing Through the Taiwan Strait: The United States Should Stop Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble, "Crossing the Line" and "Playing with Fire"

Beijing, 23 Nov (China News Service) -- In view of the passage of US warships through the Taiwan Strait, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular news conference on 23 November that the US side should immediately correct its mistakes, stop picking quarrels and provoking trouble, "crossing the line, and playing with fire," and play a constructive role in regional peace and stability.

A reporter asked a question about a US warship passing through the Taiwan Strait today, which the US side called a routine activity. What is China's comment on this?

Zhao Lijian responded that the spokesman of the Eastern Theater has spoken out on this issue. The Chinese side has paid close attention to and grasped the situation of the US warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait throughout the whole process. Recently, under the guise of "freedom of navigation," US warships have repeatedly flaunted force and provoked provocations in the Taiwan Strait. This is not a commitment to freedom and openness, but a deliberate interference and sabotage of regional peace and stability. The international community can see it clearly.

He stressed that China's determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity is unswerving. The US side should immediately correct its mistakes, stop picking quarrels and provoking troubles, "crossing the line" and "playing with fire", and play a constructive role in regional peace and stability.

Recently, the media and academic institutions have had many polls and research reports on democracy, and many of them believe that the current development of democracy in the world is not good. Reports have placed the United States on the list of "democratically regressive countries." What was the Spokesperson's comment on that and did he consider such an assessment to be objective?

"What research the media and academic institutions do is their own business. We have said many times that whether a country is democratic or not should be judged by the people of that country. Zhao Lijian said that whether us have democracy or not, we should listen to what the American people say. The Pew Research Center report shows that the vast majority of Americans are deeply disappointed with their country's political system. Only 17 percent believe that American "democracy" is worth emulating, while 23 percent believe that American "democracy" has never been a good example. A recent poll by Npriz showed that 81 percent of Americans believe that U.S. democracy is under serious threat; a recent poll by the Bosch Foundation in Germany showed that more than 80 percent of U.S. and British respondents believe that their politicians are puppets of capital, and more than half of the American people believe that democracy is "ineffective" in the current situation.

Zhao Lijian said: We believe that the most basic criterion for judging democracy is whether the people have the right to widely participate in the governance of the country, whether the people's demands can be responded to and satisfied, and whether the people have a sense of gain and happiness. Whether American democracy is good or not, ask the American people and you will get the answer. (End)

Source: China News Network