ARD German Television: Today Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the German Social Democrat Parliamentary Group Leader Rolf Mützenich, who has talked about freezing the conflict in Ukraine in the past. Was the freezing of the conflict part of the discussions today?

Lin Jian: I’m not familiar with that and would like to refer you to competent authorities.

CCTV: Some African scholars recently noted that high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has played an important role in enhancing connectivity in African countries. There’s still a large gap in infrastructure in Africa and Belt and Road cooperation between Africa and China will give a strong boost to sustainable development and economic growth in Africa as well as regional integration. What’s your comment on that and how will Belt and Road cooperation promote connectivity in Africa? 

Lin Jian: Infrastructure lays a solid foundation for Africa’s development and realizing connectivity is the common aspiration of African countries. Over the years, under the frameworks of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has followed the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, and firmly supported African countries in improving infrastructure and connectivity for sustainable development.

In China, people often say, “To get rich, build roads.” Over the years, China and African countries have worked together to build and upgrade close to 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 1,000 bridges and nearly 100 ports. With the completion of projects including the Mumbasa-Nairobi railway, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway and the Benguela railway, the transportation efficiency between coastal and hinterland areas has been significantly improved. The Kribi Deep Seaport in Cameroon can accommodate vessels that carry more than 10,000 tonnes of cargo, bringing development opportunities for landlocked countries. The expansion and renovation project of the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia will help build the biggest aviation hub in East Africa. The Zambia Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Plant, the Morocco Noor Solar-Thermal Power Plant, and the Kenya Garissa PV Power Plant greatly eased the electricity shortages. Chinese companies have helped build more than half of Africa’s wireless sites and high-speed mobile broadband networks, providing service for more than 900 million African people. In total, 52 African countries and the African Union Commission have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, striving to break their respective development bottlenecks.

With their active participation, African countries set a shining example of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, which will be an important agenda item at the upcoming FOCAC Summit. China stands ready to continue striving forward together with Africa on the road of win-win cooperation and common development, seek greater synergy between the BRI and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union as well as African countries’ respective development strategies, let high-quality China-Africa cooperation on the BRI keep on shining, and bring China-Africa connectivity cooperation onto a fast lane.

AFP: Japan said yesterday that it scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese military aircraft violated Japanese airspace, and it had summoned China’s charge d’affaires in response. What is China’s comment on this incident?

Lin Jian: Competent authorities are gathering and verifying relevant information regarding the incident you mentioned.

Beijing Daily: It was reported that on August 26 local time, Pakistan’s province of Balochistan was hit by multiple terrorist attacks. Terrorists attacked Pakistan’s security forces and police, held up vehicles and killed innocent civilians, and damaged infrastructure including roads and railways at various locations of Balochistan. What is China’s comment? 

Lin Jian: We noted the reports. We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks and express our deep condolences over the lives lost.

China stands firm against all forms of terrorism. We will continue giving staunch support to Pakistan in their effort to advance counterterrorism operations, uphold social solidarity and stability, and protect the safety of the people. China stands ready to further enhance counterterrorism and security cooperation with Pakistan and jointly safeguard peace and security in the region.

Reuters: The Philippines’ military chief has said that he has ceased communications with his Chinese military counterpart and is now communicating with China’s Foreign Ministry. Please could you confirm it to be true?

Lin Jian: I’m not familiar with that.

TRT: Yesterday, Israeli army targeted a journalist tent in Gaza. A TRT cameraman was injured in the eye by shrapnel while on duty. Additionally, many other journalists were also injured in the same attack. Does China have any comments on the Israeli attacks against the journalists in Gaza?

Lin Jian: We’ve stated China’s position more than once. China opposes all acts that harm civilians and condemns violence against journalists. We strongly call on relevant parties to stop the fighting and protect civilians.

AFP: Canada announced yesterday it will place 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports. What’s China’s comment on this?

Lin Jian: The spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce has stated our position on this issue.

Let me stress that, the move by the Canadian side ignores facts, disrespects WTO rules, and runs counter to historical trend. This typical protectionist move disrupts China-Canada trade relations, harms the interests of Canadian companies and consumers, and does little good to Canada’s green transition process and global effort for climate response. China deplores and opposes this.

Subsidies do not generate industrial competitiveness. Protectionism protects nothing but backwardness with the future as its cost. The rapid development of China’s EV industry is the result of persistent tech innovation, well-established industrial and supply chains, and full market competition. This is what happens when our comparative advantages provide exactly what the market needs.

China urges Canada to respect facts, observe WTO rules, correct this wrong decision at once, and stop politicizing trade issues. China will take all measures necessary to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

Beijing Youth Daily: As China’s various visa-free policies are implemented, many foreign tourists have shared their trips to China online, which received over 1 billion views, searches and likes. Many foreign friends commented that they wish to explore all that the vast China has to offer. A lot of them have visited China more than once. What’s your comment?

Lin Jian: I myself have watched a good number of videos by foreign vloggers sharing their trips in China. I’m happy to see more and more foreign friends come to China and fall in love with China. In the first seven months of this year, China received over 17 million foreign travelers, up by 129.9 percent year-on-year. There are over 6,300 international passenger flights every week, up by close to 10 percent compared with the end of June. All these figures speak to the tremendous enthusiasm of foreign friends for traveling to China.

The growing popularity of “China Travel” would not be possible without China’s continued opening up and improving services. China has rolled out a 15-day visa-free entry policy for 15 countries on a pilot basis, reached mutual visa exemptions with another six countries including Singapore and Thailand, expanded the coverage of 144-hour visa-free transit policy to 37 ports of entry and 54 countries, and continued to improve payment services. The list goes on and on. China’s policies and measures to facilitate visits have brought foreign visitors to the country to explore world heritage in Beijing’s hutongs, enjoy the dazzling nightscape of Shanghai’s Bund, and have a glimpse of Chinese history and culture in Shanxi’s ancient buildings. These policies and measures draw China closer to the world, and demonstrate China’s sincerity and determination to further open up.

Those who visited China love it. Welcome to China. Welcome to unlock your unique experience in this beautiful, open, inclusive, and friendly country.

AFP: After another incident in the waters around the Sabina Shoal, the Philippines accused China of being “the biggest disruptor of peace in Southeast Asia.” What’s your comment on this?

Lin Jian: Who has kept carrying out infringement activities and provocations in the South China Sea? Who has brought in forces outside the region to disrupt regional peace and stability? Countries in the region are clear-eyed. China is the last one that can be accused of “disrupting peace.” We urge certain people on the Philippine side to face up to the root cause of the issue, stop going down the wrong path of disrupting regional peace by stirring up troubles and making provocations, and stop the clumsy stunts of calling white black and falsely accusing China.

NHK: Japan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy to lodge severe protest regarding the intrusion of a Chinese military plane into Japan’s territorial airspace, strongly urging China to ensure that similar acts do not recur. What’s China’s comment? 

Lin Jian: China and Japan maintain communication through existing working channels. I would like to stress that China has no intention to intrude into any country’s airspace.