Day: July 2, 2020

(Xinhua)08:47, July 23, 2019

BEIJING, July 22 — China urged the United States to stop politicizing religious issues and interfering in other countries internal affairs, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Monday.

Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks when asked to comment on the U.S. move to set up an international alliance on religious freedom with related countries at an international religious freedom conference.

The U.S. slandering of Chinas religious policy and religious freedom at the conference was met with opposition by all Chinese, Geng said.

The establishment of the alliance was nothing but a tool for the United States to use a religious excuse to promote its own values and intervene in other countries internal affairs, which would be opposed by most nations in the world, the spokesperson said.

We urge the United States to respect facts, discard prejudice and stop politicizing religion and interfering in other countries internal affairs, Geng said.

Recently, nearly 100 intellectuals and religious figures in Chinas Xinjiang jointly sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, expressing strong indignation to his irresponsible remarks on Xinjiang, the spokesperson said.

A number of Chinese religious associations also strongly condemned the remarks, Geng said.

Noting that the U.S. move has aroused objection and opposition from many countries, Geng said many countries refused to attend the conference.

After 37 foreign ambassadors to the UN at Geneva, including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, praised Chinas human rights development and counter-terrorism and de-radicalization outcomes, many countries have joined them to support the Chinese government.

(Xinhua)08:59, July 23, 2019

BEIJING, July 22 — China on Monday urged the U.S. to stop stirring up trouble in regard to the issue of the South China Sea and to respect the regional countries efforts to resolve disputes through dialogue.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks in responding to a query concerning a statement issued Saturday by U.S. State Department saying it is concerned about reports of Chinas interference with oil and gas activities in the South China Sea, including Vietnams long-standing exploration and production activities.

In the statement, the State Department also cited Secretary of State Michael Pompeos comments earlier this year when he said China has blocked the development in the South China Sea through coercive means. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton also said China threatens peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by adopting coercive behavior.

The current situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, Geng told a press briefing Monday, noting that under the framework of fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, China and ASEAN countries are actively promoting pragmatic maritime cooperation and consultation on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea to effectively safeguard peace and stability in the region.

At the same time, China has been maintaining dialogue and negotiation with concerned countries in the South China Sea to actively manage relevant disputes. The international community is fully aware of these facts, he said.

For a long time, some outside forces, including the U.S., have been making irresponsible remarks on the South China Sea issue, stirring up trouble, making mischief with evil intentions, the spokesperson said.

Such behavior will only destabilize the situation in the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability, Geng said. The remarks made by Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Bolton are completely void of the facts and are defamatory to the aspirations and efforts of China and ASEAN countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and properly manage disputes. Countries and people in this region will not be fooled.

We urge the U.S. side to stop this irresponsible behavior, respect the facts, respect the efforts of China and ASEAN countries to resolve disputes through dialogue, and play a positive role in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, not the other way around, he added.

(Peoples Daily Online)13:32, July 23, 2019

(Photo/Xinhua)

The number of transactions made through China’s digital payment platform WeChat Pay in Japan grew 108 percent this June from a year ago, according to the latest statistics released by the Chinese service provider.

The number of merchants that accept WeChat Pay also soared by 665 percent.

Japan, as one of the major destinations for Chinese tourists, is seeing rapid expansion of mobile payment, Japanese media reported.

According to statistics, Japan received 30 million foreign tourists last year, and 26.9 percent came from China. Moreover, in the first quarter of 2019, Chinese tourists spent a total of over 402 billion Japanese yen ($3.7 billion) in Japan, accounting for 36 percent of the total consumption made by foreign visitors.

Japanese enterprises have to make strategies to cope with the situation to better seize opportunities, local media said.

Japan is a cash-based society. Even credit cards are not frequently used in the country, let alone mobile payment. According to a census made by the Bank of Japan, only 6 percent of the Japanese population used mobile payments in 2016, while the figure stood at 98.3 percent in China in 2015.

This year, the Japanese government and enterprises are making all efforts to promote a cashless society. However, this process encounters multiple impeding factors, such as the deeply-rooted cash payment mentality, extreme attention attached on privacy, as well as the increasingly severe aging population problem.

Japanese enterprises seem to have a slow reaction to the trend of mobile payment, but their Chinese counterparts are taking this opportunity and landing their business in Japan.

In Tokyo, WeChat Pay and its rival Alipay can be seen anywhere that Chinese tourists go. Naoya Nakajima, regional director of WeChat Pay Japan, noted that China’s digital innovation and smart lifestyle represented by the WeChat ecology are receiving high attention from the Japanese market, and they hope to bring such innovation to Japan and make the convenient WeChat Pay available on every street.

By WuYuehe (Peoples Daily)09:37, July 22, 2019

The ambivalence of some U.S. officials has been fully revealed by their recent ridiculous remarks.

On one hand, they hope China to make huge purchases of U.S agricultural products to relieve their pressured American farmers. On the other hand, they are holding tight to the bigotry, the so-called 鈥渄efending America鈥檚 5G future,鈥?and keeping blocking China鈥檚 high-tech firms. In addition, the desire to impose additional tariffs on $325 billion worth of Chinese imports is still lingering on their mind.

It鈥檚 possibly true that they do want to reach a trade deal with China, but they are still putting on dramas and failing to see the core of the issue.

What鈥檚 the basis of mutual respect and equality? Can both parties accommodate each other鈥檚 concerns? Does the U.S. have the determination and perseverance to work with China to reach a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement? These questions are unavoidable and must be answered by the U.S. side.

China neither has the motivation to hurt the interests of the U.S., nor has done anything to threat the latter. Lies from some unfriendly US officials are still lies no matter what stories are fabricated.

Does the U.S. have enemies? If the answer is yes, its enemy can only be its own arrogance.

It鈥檚 difficult for some U.S. officials who pursue a philosophy of 鈥渕e-first鈥?to adhere to equality and mutual respect. Unfortunately, they are not living in a barbarian world where the law of the jungle rules. Though the U.S. is the largest economy on the planet, it can never dominate the world at its will.

If these U.S. officials keep going to extremes on 鈥渕e-first鈥?policies, they will definitely pay a price for their arrogance 鈥?loss of America鈥檚 international presence.

Those Americans who initiated the economic and trade frictions with China are not willing to share benefits, and they never consider how to achieve win-win results.

According to U.S. media, some high officials from the American government acknowledged recently that the trade war with China is also hurting U.S. companies.

However, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow is still threatening China as he used to do, claiming that the U.S. is determined to win against China. 鈥淚 think if China keeps moving the way they鈥檙e moving, they will be on the wrong side of history,鈥?Kudlow said.

Such illogic remarks only drew despise from the international society. It鈥檚 obvious that 鈥渨in-win results鈥?does not exist in the dictionary of some U.S. officials. No matter what they say, it will never change the fact that in today鈥檚 world, no one can achieve success without win-win cooperation with other countries.

In the era of economic globalization, the international division of labor is a result of the market rule of maximizing common interests. Therefore, it鈥檚 natural for the stakeholders on the global industrial chain to prioritize cooperation.

As an ancient Chinese book writes, there鈥檚 nothing more widely agreed in the world than the pursuit of justice. The aspiration for justice leads to equality, and equality leads to a fair social system.

On July 16, the Appellate Body of the WTO released a report, pointing out that the U.S. didn鈥檛 fully comply with a ruling of the WTO, and if it doesn鈥檛 remove certain tariffs that violate WTO rules, it could face sanctions from China. Will the U.S. wake up to reality under the circumstance?

China has always upheld sincerity in promoting win-win results. China has repeatedly stressed that the essence of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutual benefits and win-win. Both sides have huge overlapping interests and should be good partners for cooperation.

This point is also widely agreed by the U.S. public. The voices demanding cooperation were once again made by the two peoples at the fourth US-China Sister Cities Conference held on July 17 in Huston, Texas. They said that communication is of particular significance when China-U.S. relationship is undergoing difficulties, and efforts should be intensified by the two sides to create win-win results.

The heads of state of China and the U.S. have agreed at the G20 Osaka summit to restart economic and trade consultations between their countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and that the U.S. side will not add new tariffs on Chinese exports. This agreement has been welcomed by the two peoples and even the international society at large.

The two countries should cooperate with sincerity in accordance with their consensus rather than setting up obstacles, so that they can finally get closer to their goals.

(Xinhua)08:47, July 22, 2019

BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) — A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council on Sunday evening condemned the vicious behaviors of some radical demonstrators blockading the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The spokesperson said some radical demonstrators surrounded the liaison office on Sunday evening, threw black paintball to the national emblem on the gate of the office building, painted insulting words on the exterior wall, and attempted to break into the building.

Such behaviors have blatantly challenged the authority of the central government and touched the bottom line of the principle of one country, two systems, the spokesperson said, adding such behaviors are serious in nature, have caused bad influence and are absolutely intolerable.

It is quite necessary for the Hong Kong police to take immediate actions, said the spokesperson. We firmly support the HKSAR government in taking all necessary measures in accordance with law to ensure the safety of the central government organs based in Hong Kong, safeguard the rule of law in Hong Kong, and punish the criminals.