Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian Photo: VCG

Chinese Foreign Ministry (FM) spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday that China firmly opposes and has strongly protested the US' recent actions that have seriously disrupted the consensus reached by the two countries in Geneva, Switzerland and harmed China's rights and interests. 

Lin made the remarks at a regular press briefing, during which a reporter noted that the US has repeatedly claimed that China violated the common understandings reached at the China-US economic and trade meeting in Geneva and took a series of negative moves, and asked China's response.

Lin stressed that the Geneva consensus was reached in line with the principle of mutual respect and equal-footed consultation, and that China has been responsibly and faithfully implementing the consensus.

The spokesperson further pointed out that without any factual ground, the US falsely accuses China of violating the Geneva consensus, and has issued harmful extreme measures against China, such as new chip export controls, blocking EDA sales, and pledging to revoke Chinese students' visas.

"Those actions have seriously disrupted the Geneva consensus and hurt China's legitimate rights and interests. China firmly opposes them and has strongly protested to the US," Lin said.

He reiterated that pressuring and coercion are not the right way to engage China. We call on the US to respect the facts, stop spreading disinformation, reverse the wrongdoings, and act to uphold the consensus.

The FM spokesperson's remarks came after a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Monday also slammed the US' recent claim that China has violated the Geneva consensus.

In a statement, the MOFCOM spokesperson stated that China, with a responsible attitude, has earnestly addressed, strictly implemented, and actively upheld the consensus of the economic and trade talks in Geneva. In contrast, the US has continuously provoked new trade frictions, exacerbating uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations. 

Noting that the outcome of the Geneva meeting was hard-won, the MOFCOM spokesperson urged the US to work with China, immediately correct its wrong practices, jointly safeguard the consensus reached at the Geneva economic and trade talks, and promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations.

"If the US insists on its own way and continues to undermine China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," the MOFCOM spokesperson said.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times in an earlier interview that the US' recent moves are a typical case of "saying one thing, but doing another," which, in itself, violates the consensus reached in Geneva, and is detrimental to efforts by both sides to promote sound and stable development in bilateral economic and trade ties.

Global Times