We can see that for some time, there have been frequent high-level exchanges between China and the United States. On November 4, Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, and Kerry, Special Envoy for Climate Issues of the President of the United States of America, continued their dialogue and exchanges on China-US response to climate change during their participation in the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
During the previous G20 summit (October 31), State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Blinken met again after more than seven months. Moving forward, about half a month ago (October 6), Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, met with Sullivan, assistant to the US President for National Security Affairs, in Zurich, Switzerland. Moreover, the two sides talked about the possibility of a video meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state at their meeting in Zurich, and if it goes well, we should be able to wait for the relevant information before the end of the year.
On October 31, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken. Source: Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
However, we still noticed several news of US pressure on China, and these issues were asked at the Foreign Ministry's regular press conference today. Today, the spokesperson also spent a large amount of time responding one by one.
This also makes us wonder why the relevant issues have been provoked again. What kind of signal did the spokesperson send in response to the press conference?
First of all, it was the shenzhen satellite TV direct news reporter who asked questions at the press conference today (5th). We have noted that on the 4th, US State Department spokesman Price said that the United States urges China not to restrict the free movement and access of journalists during the Beijing Winter Olympics, and to ensure their personal safety and freedom of reporting.
Wang Wenbin's response can be roughly divided into three parts. The first is the area of expertise – "We welcome media coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and more than 2,500 text and picture journalists have submitted applications for registration for the Beijing Winter Olympics." Wang Wenbin said in response to Shenzhen Satellite TV's direct news, "We reiterate that under the premise of abiding by China's relevant laws and regulations and epidemic prevention policies, all foreign registered media reporters can cover the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and related matters in China." ”
It is worth noting that on October 27, the New Office of the State Council held a press conference on the overall preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the meeting, it was introduced that the epidemic is the biggest challenge facing the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games. "It should be said that without epidemic prevention and security, there will be no successful Olympic games." We have always regarded the prevention and control of the epidemic at the Winter Olympics as the top priority of our work. Zhang Jiandong, vice mayor of Beijing and executive vice chairman of the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, said at the meeting that China has formulated and released the first edition of the epidemic prevention and control manual, "The important point of this manual is to insist on putting the safety of athletes and all parties involved, including the Chinese public, in the first place."
Wang Wenbin further said at today's (5th) press conference that we also very much welcome media reporters to report on the construction of venues, event organization, operation guarantees and other related work of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, and to supervise the preparations. This also helps us to continuously improve our ability to organize and run the event. This also means that China has an open, positive and transparent attitude towards global interviews and coverage of the Winter Olympic Games, and to a certain extent, it has also responded to external accusations of "transparency".
Secondly, Wang Wenbin is a response to some questions and accusations from the outside world "without naming names". Wang Wenbin pointed out that we resolutely oppose the politicization of sports, the strong ideological prejudice against China, the fabrication of fake news and false information in the name of so-called press freedom, and the distortion and smear of China and the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In the end, Wang Wenbin also directly responded to the relevant statements of the US State Department. "We urge the US side to respect the Olympic spirit, promote the development of the Olympic Movement, and safeguard the interests of athletes from all countries, including the United States, practice the Olympic motto of 'greater unity' and stop making irresponsible remarks."
It is worth noting that not long ago, when State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the G20 summit, the Italian prime minister and the Dutch prime minister openly supported the Beijing Winter Olympics. The G20 summit also adopted the G20 Leaders' Rome Summit Declaration, which states: "We look forward to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games." This is an important opportunity for athletes from all over the world to compete and a symbol of human resilience. ”
In this context, let's take a closer look at what Wang Wenbin calls "irresponsibility", and what it means seems to be clearer.
Equally intriguing is the recent actions of the United States in tracing the origin of the new crown virus, and the key word is still "transparency".
For some time, we can clearly feel that on the issue of tracing the origin of the new crown virus, the United States and the West have slightly "stopped", and the turning point of all this is that the US intelligence department has ended the so-called "traceability investigation". Previously, US President Biden asked intelligence agencies to submit to him a report on the origins of the new crown within 90 days, which was submitted to the White House in August this year, but only some "can be made public" content was released at the time, and there was no very clear conclusion.
Recently, the US side further "declassified" the relevant reports. At the end of October, U.S. intelligence agencies said they might never be able to find out the origin of the 2019 coronavirus, "but it is certain that this is not a human-developed biological and chemical weapon." However, the report took a sharp turn and went on to accuse the Chinese government of "lack of transparency."
On the 4th, Pierre, deputy press secretary of the US White House, said that it is extremely important to find out the source of the new crown virus, and the United States and partners will continue to urge China to show "transparency".
"China has always adhered to the principles of science, openness and transparency to participate in global scientific cooperation on traceability, and has twice invited WHO experts to China to carry out traceability research. The joint China-WHO traceability study has drawn authoritative, professional and scientific conclusions, laying a good foundation for the next stage of global scientific traceability. Wang Wenbin responded at today's press conference that we once again urge the US side to stop political manipulation and return to the right path of unity against the epidemic and scientific traceability.
It must be pointed out that the accusations or discussions between the United States and the West about China's COVID-19 epidemic have become normalized. In addition to the issue of traceability mentioned above, there is also the question of the Chinese government's way of fighting the epidemic. As early as August this year, Bloomberg in the United States published a paper saying that China's "zero tolerance" policy for the new crown epidemic may lead to China's "isolation for several years". This has also triggered discussions at home and abroad on whether the "dynamic zeroing" policy is feasible, and under the relevant discussions, "dynamic zeroing" has also been shaped as a completely opposite of the West's "coexistence with the virus" anti-epidemic route.
The extent to which the discussion is scientific and how much political implications it has may be difficult to quantify. However, it is worth pointing out that under the current situation, the issue of virus traceability may only be the tip of the iceberg of the West's accusations against China on the epidemic. This also means that it seems not surprising that the US side is once again provoking the issue of virus traceability, or accusing China of lack of so-called "transparency" and accusing us of epidemic prevention measures. And this is also what we should observe and even be wary of.
Looking back, although the US side will not stop pressuring China's accusations, it must be seen that there will probably be a video meeting between the Heads of State of China and the US dollar before the end of the year, and in such a context, how the US side plays the "pressure card" against China may be more worthy of scrutiny.
Recently, some media outlets have said that during the possible upcoming meeting between the Leaders of China and the United States, the two sides may announce policies to ease tensions in bilateral relations, such as reopening the Consulate General and relaxing visa restrictions.
In this regard, Wang Wenbin stressed at the first time in his response that this is a "speculative report" and that "there is no news that can be provided at present." In fact, this response also shows through a short sentence that the so-called report is untrue and speculative.
Wang Wenbin further pointed out that the previous US administration unilaterally provoked many incidents and seriously damaged Sino-US relations, and the Chinese side has made a legitimate and necessary response. "We hope that the US side will correct its mistakes, move in the same direction as China, and push China-US relations back to the right track of stable development as soon as possible."
It is not difficult to see that this response was directly addressed to the US side. Especially at a time when the heads of state of China and the United States are likely to hold a video meeting within the year, the US side needs to listen to China's position and make practical changes to create a better atmosphere and opportunities for a possible meeting.
The author 丨 Zhu Endi, Shenzhen Satellite TV direct news reporter in Beijing
Typography 丨He Xinying