Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai Responds to Biden and CNN Reports on Uighurs



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“Our goal is to find the growing inspiration of the Chinese people for a better life. Our goal is not to compete with or replace any other country,” Cui Tiankai told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview.

“This has never been our national strategy,” Cui added.

The Chinese ambassador responded to comments made on Thursday by US President Joe Biden, who said China had “the overall goal of becoming the world’s leading country, the richest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. world”. “

“It is not going to happen under my supervision,” added Biden, who spoke at length about his administration’s goals with China during his first presidential press conference on Thursday.

Biden’s remarks followed a bitter first face-to-face meeting between US and Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska, last week, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that the Biden administration would raise “deep concerns” about some of China’s actions around the The world met with immediate rejection from Chinese counterparts.
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Thursday’s tone was much more conciliatory. The ambassador called the Alaska talks “timely” and “useful,” adding that “it certainly helped both sides to have a better understanding of each other.”

Cui told CNN: “What the world of today wants, and what the world of tomorrow would want, is to unite the efforts of all countries to build a community of nations for a shared future.”

“We do not believe that any attempt to divide the world into different camps or even build a confrontational military approach, we do not believe that this type of approach is a solution. Actually, this is a problem in itself,” he said.

Pressed to respond to accusations made by Biden that China is not complying with international rules on fair competition, Cui said: “We will not have any problem with open and fair competition; in fact, we support it.”

However, he added that “past mistakes” would have to be “corrected” as a precondition for fair competition: “How can we have fair competition when Chinese companies are discriminated against? When top Chinese executives are detained for no reason “Clear attempt to politicize everything. When is there such an attempt at nationalism and protectionism against international rules? So, to have open and fair competition, past mistakes will have to be corrected first.”

Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is currently fighting extradition to the United States, where she is wanted for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran.

Reporting human rights abuses

In the comprehensive interview, Ciu also responded to CNN reports about Uighur children being separated from their families and prevented from leaving China’s Xinjiang region.

The ambassador incorrectly described the report as false, as well as “immoral”, claims that Amanpour refuted, explaining: “This was not manipulated. These were desperate parents, they cannot find their children, they want to try to reunite with their children.” , and the reporter fulfilled his journalistic duty. It’s called an investigative report. “

Beijing's crackdown on Xinjiang has separated thousands of children from their parents, claims a new report.  CNN found two of them
In a recent report, Amnesty International estimated that China’s policies towards ethnic Uighurs have divided thousands of families, as some children are unable to leave China’s Xinjiang region to be with their parents abroad. CNN traveled to the heavily guarded region and found some of the children left behind.

Pressured by Amanpour to respond to a report by the Newslines Institute for Strategy and Policy that China is allegedly pursuing policies of mass internment, mass birth prevention, forcible transfer of Uighur children to state facilities, eradication of Uighur identity and culture, As well as As a selective target of intellectual and community leaders, Ciu responded: “China is not doing these things.”

“It is very unfortunate that some people, including some journalists, start with a very strong bias and prejudice, that is their problem. This is how they come to very different conclusions about particular situations, very against real facts,” he added.

CNN has previously reported numerous allegations of abuse of detained Uighurs in China. Up to two million people may have been taken to internment camps in the Xinjiang region, according to the US State Department.

The Chinese authorities have described the camps as “educational centers” to curb extremism. Cui echoed that point Thursday, telling Amanpour that “the government had to do something” to prevent possible terrorist attacks in the region.

“What we did was not start a war there. We did not use missiles or drones. We did education and training efforts, we helped people learn more about the law, acquire good skills to improve their lives and find good jobs. And all of us. these have made a huge difference. There has not been a single terrorist attack in recent years, “he said.

On Thursday, Biden said he had made it clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States will continue to speak out against human rights abuses in China. “America values ​​human rights. We don’t always live up to our expectations, but it is a value system. We build on that principle,” Biden said.

“And as long as you and your country continue to so blatantly violate human rights, we will continue in a relentless manner to get the world’s attention and make clear what is happening,” added Biden.

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On Monday, the United States announced sanctions against two Chinese government officials for “human rights abuses” against minorities in Xinjiang, including Uighur Muslims. The European Union also announced its sanctions on Monday, naming Zhu Hailun, former head of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and three other senior officials.

Ciu told Amanpour that he had been to Xinjiang “more than once in recent years” and said that “what I saw is a very different story, a very different image from the one in the report.”

He added that the first principle established in the United Nations Charter of sovereign equality of all members, and the obligation of all members of the UN to refrain from threatening or using force against the territorial integrity and political independence of any state They were “rules that everyone must follow in the country.”

“So if people are interested in these rules, maybe they should start by reading the Charter first. If people really want to show us the power of example, I suggest they can start with their own adherence to all of these in a truly universal way. agreed principles, “he said.

CNN’s Kara Fox contributed to this report.

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