China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed comments by US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, labelling them as “far-fetched” and inconsistent with key agreements made by the presidents of both nations. This response came after a widely circulated Wall Street Journal report quoted Burns accusing Beijing of making people-to-people exchanges between the two countries “impossible.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning addressed these remarks at a regular briefing, stating, “It is not in line with the correct way for China and the United States to get along with each other and is not conducive to the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.”
Mao asserted Burns’s comments do not reflect the important consensus reached during a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco last November.
In the Wall Street Journal interview, Burns alleged that Chinese officials interfered in 61 public events organised by the US embassy in Beijing since November, either by pressuring Chinese citizens to stay away or by intimidating those who attended.
Mao Ning countered these allegations by asserting, “China has always developed its relations with the United States in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping. It is committed to promoting cultural exchanges between China and the United States.”
