CNA
It is important to enhance confidence in Cyprus and the interested parties to maintain dialogue and move towards each other, says the Ambassador of China to Cyprus, Huang Xingyuan.
In an interview with Cyprus News Agency, the Ambassador also refers to Turkish drilling activities off Cyprus, noting that any action which could raise regional tension is โinappropriate and undesirable.โ
Commenting on Turkish Cypriot voices, calling on the illegal regime in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus to join the World Health Organization (WHO), Ambassador Huan says that โwe should stay vigilant of relevant developments.โ He refers to similar efforts on the part of Taiwan and says that only sovereign countries are eligible to become full members of WHO.
Chinaโs assistance to Cyprus during the pandemic has nothing to do with politics, but is based on traditional Chinese virtues, the Ambassador notes in his interview.
As for US allegations against Beijing, he says that that it is imperative to focus on anti-pandemic international cooperation. Making China a scapegoat is a move in the wrong direction, he adds.
Asked about his recent discussion with UN Special Representative, Elizabeth Spehar, about the peace process in Cyprus, the Ambassador says that โin the face of challenges, confidence is more precious than goldโ. As a comprehensive, fair and reasonable solution of the Cyprus problem cannot be achieved overnight, it requires that the parties concerned, including the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, maintain the dialogue and their consultations, and move towards each other, he adds.
Ambassador Huang also says that the political dialogue can be done step by step, the crossing points which are temporarily closed can be reopened later, and the consensus reached at the Berlin Meeting, last November, can be implemented gradually. He notes that many people have been working tirelessly during the pandemic to advance the peace process in Cyprus. โIt is important to enhance confidence. And it is equally important to be patient in solving problems and perseverant in achieving goalsโ he says.
Asked about Turkeyโs recent drilling activities off Cyprus, Ambassador Huang says that he wishes to reiterate Chinaโs consistent position via CNA, which โfirmly supports all efforts made by Cyprus to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.โ
โUnder the context of global fight against COVID-19, any action that may hinder anti-pandemic cooperation and may raise regional tension is inappropriate and undesirableโ he says. The Ambassador expresses hope that the parties concerned will move towards a lasting, comprehensive and just solution of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and in the spirit of dialogue and cooperation.
Ambassador Huang was also asked to comment calls by some Turkish Cypriot politicians, who said that the illegal regime in the northern, Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus should consider joining WHO. โWe have noted and should stay vigilant of the relevant developments in the occupied areaโ he says and draws parallels with Taiwan. Recently, he goes on, the Taiwan authorities have also abused the pandemic through political manipulation and attempted to join the World Health Organization, where only sovereign countries are eligible to become full members and attend the 73rd World Health Assembly.
He adds that the real motive of Taiwan is to “seek independence by leveraging the pandemic”, play up the so-called “sovereignty status” and “international presence” and thus become a de facto “independent political entity.” โTo this purpose, the Taiwan authorities even incited the “Taiwan independence” forces to launch personal and racist attacks on the WHO Director General, which is extremely despicableโ he adds.
โSuch shameless actions and political manipulations are detrimental to international anti-pandemic cooperation and extremely irresponsible for the well-being of the Taiwan people. Such moves violate the norms of international relations, poison the atmosphere of global cooperation and are doomed to failureโ the Ambassador of China notes.
Speaking about Beijingโs international aid during the pandemic, the Ambassador says that China has provided assistance within its ability to almost all countries, including Cyprus. โThis has nothing to do with politics, but is based on traditional Chinese virtues of reciprocating otherโs kindness and helping those in need, and more importantly, in the spirit of Chinaโs unswerving practice of the concept of a โCommunity of Shared Destiny for Humankindโ โ he goes on.
He notes the achievement of the Cypriot government and people in proactively responding to the pandemic and says that since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Cyprus have been firmly supporting each other, actively conducting joint prevention and control, sharing experience in the fight against the pandemic, and providing convenience and protection for their respective expatriates.
โThe anti-COVID-19 cooperation between China and Cyprus has enabled the two countries to better understand, trust and value each other, meanwhile open up the realms for cooperation between the two sides in the fields of health, transportation, communications and technologyโ Ambassador Huang notes.
He also says that โonly brothers through thick and thin can become true partners for joint developmentโ adding that such friendship and unity will be the key foundation and drive for the two countries to promote bilateral cooperation in various fields in the post-pandemic era.
Asked to comment on US allegations that Beijing is spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, the Ambassador replies that hawkish politicians โare leading America into the gutter.โ Their anti-epidemic policy based on deflecting blame and their China policy characterized by “harming the other” have delayed and disrupted international cooperation in fighting against COVID-19, he says.
He also points to a 57-page Republican strategy document, which, he adds, calls back the memory of the US misleading the international community into believing that โwashing powder is a weapon of mass destructionโ in the Iraq War. โThe conspiracy theory that the virus is from Wuhan Virology Lab is groundless and against common sense, just as strange as the belief that โdisinfectants can be injected into your bodyโ โ he goes on.
Scientists around the world, including those of the United States, are still fighting on two fronts, the Ambassador notes, and refers to efforts to jointly combat the spread of COVID-19 through international cooperation, and to eliminate the spread of lies and โpolitical virusesโ through scientific approaches.
โIt is imperative to focus on anti-pandemic international cooperation in a concerted effort in the face of this invisible enemy of humankindโ the Ambassador says. Making China a scapegoat is a move in the wrong direction, which can neither cure Americaโs disease nor save the lives of patients, he notes.
Asked about a report in โDer Spiegelโ, saying that the Chinese leadership contacted WHO and pressured the international organization to delay a pandemic warning, the Ambassador says that the โphone callโ on January 21 never even took place. The WHO has already made a clarification this on May 9, saying that the report was unfounded fake news, he adds.
โFalse reports can only distract attention from and affect the efforts of WHO and countries around the world to fight the pandemic. As I often mentioned, a disaster is a touchstone as well as a mirror. After the outbreak of the COVID-19, various โdoubtsโ and โspeculationsโ have replaced facts and truthsโ Ambassador Huang says and expressed hope that โDer Spiegelโ will refrain from arbitrarily spreading false information.
As for the future of international relations, the Ambassador of China says that the pandemic has provided an opportunity for all countries around the world to get united in solidarity and fight against our common enemy. โAccording to the โCannikin Lawโ, the final result of global efforts against COVID-19 does not depend on the best-performing countries, but on the worst-performing onesโ he says and notes that as long as the virus is still spreading in any single country in the world, it could come back again.
โNo matter how powerful a country is, it cannot rely on its own strength to cope with the challenges of the pandemic. It must cooperate with the international community, otherwise it will only harm others without benefiting itselfโ he notes.
According to the Ambassador, China has a simple purpose while providing support to countries worldwide, as well as to the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. Chinaโs purpose is โnot to assert power in international relations, nor to take over the leadership or to fill in the gaps left by others, but to make its own contribution to defeat the global pandemic as soon as possible in the spirit of a โCommunity of Shared Destiny for Humankindโโ he says.
Only when the world gets better will China become better, and vice versa, Ambassador Huang notes. He says that international relations will definitely change after the pandemic is over, but no matter what, peace and development will be the main theme and call of the times.
โConflict and confrontation should not be the bedrock and option of any countryโs foreign policyโ he adds and expresses hope that in the future, there will be less geopolitical conspiracy and more mutual learning in governance, less apathy to others` troubles and beggar-thy-neighbor policy and more mutual support and cooperation.
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