Chinese FM hits out at US over national sovereignty, territorial integrity claims on Ukraine issue

Responding to US assertions that China should respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity with regards to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Thursday that "I think, first of all, on issues of how to respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity, I am afraid the United States is not in a position to lecture others."

US State Department spokesman Ned Price claimed during a recent press conference that every responsible country, including China, is under obligation to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to make concessions on the Ukraine issue, but the current development of China-Russian relations is a cause for concern.

To this Hua, speaking at a regular press conference in Beijing, noted that regarding issues of national sovereignty and territorial integrity the Chinese people's understanding and perception are especially real and poignant.

"In recent history, after suffering long at the hands of the Eight-Power Allied Forces and aggression of foreign colonialists, the Chinese people naturally have a poignant memory of the humiliation of the surrendering of sovereign rights," she observed.

Just about two decades ago, the NATO bombing of the China Embassy in Belgrade led to the deaths of three Chinese reporters and many injuries. NATO thus still owes the Chinese people a debt of blood. Today the US and its so-called allies continue to interfere in China's internal affairs on issues concerning Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, posing real threats to the security of China's sovereignty, Hua stated.

She said that China is the only permanent member in the United Nations Security Council that has not yet achieved complete reunification of the motherland. As a consequence, China has been consistently and resolutely safeguarding the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, and basic principles governing international relations.

In comparison, for the US, in less than 250 years since it came into existence, only 20 years have not been stained by foreign military operations.

These military operations have been conducted sometimes in the name of democracy, in the name of human rights, or just a piece of fake news.

Hua concluded that "its only natural that a country like this has a different notion of national sovereignty and territorial integrity compared with us."

Regarding US insinuation that Russia moved into Ukraine after securing China's support, Hua said that she believed that Russia would be quite unhappy with this kind of story.