Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Regular Press Conference on July 6, 2018 |
2018-07-07 00:09 |
At the invitation of the government of the French Republic and the government of Burkina Faso, Vice Premier of the State Council Hu Chunhua will visit these two countries from July 8 to 13. Q: The imposition of an additional 25% tariff on 34 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods by the US administration has officially come into effect today. What is the response of China's Foreign Ministry to it? A: In blatant violation of the WTO rules, this wrong move of the United States will deal a blow to the global trading order, cause fluctuations in the global market and hamper global economic recovery. More transnational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers around the world will be hurt and a lot of industries and the general public in the US have come to realize that they will suffer a lot from it. Actually, this string of unilateralist as well as trade and investment protectionist measures recently taken by the US administration has aroused wide concern and condemnation worldwide and incurred countermeasures and retaliatory moves from many countries. The Chinese side is always opposed to unilateralism and trade and investment protectionism. We have been making utmost efforts to make the relevant party view the globalization process in an objective way and deal with the differences and problems arising in the trade relations in a reasonable manner. However, this needs the relevant party to do likewise. Any attempt to pressure others unilaterally is futile and no illusion should be entertained in this regard. When China's legitimate interests are treated unfairly, we are justified in taking necessary countermeasures. The Spokesperson of China's Commerce Ministry said today that we will inform the WTO of what's going on and we are determined to work with other countries around the globe to uphold free trade and multilateral trading regime. Q: On July 5, two boats with 133 on board capsized near the island of Phuket in Thailand, and most of the passengers are Chinese. Could the Foreign Ministry tell us the exact number of Chinese tourists on board? How serious are these casualties? A: On the afternoon of July 5 local time, two boats carrying 133 tourists capsized off the coast of Koh Hae and Koh Mai Thon in Phuket, Thailand, among whom 127 are Chinese. Up to now, 78 Chinese have been rescued, while 33 still missing and 16 killed (Note: the data has been modified according to the latest updates). Some of the injured Chinese tourists have been sent to the hospitals for emergence treatment. We will keep you posted on the situation as the rescue efforts are still undergoing. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach high importance to this accident, and Secretary General Xi Jinping and other leaders of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have made important instructions. The Foreign Ministry launched the emergency response mechanism without delay. An inter-agency task force, led and set up by the Foreign Ministry, is on its way to Thailand. The Chinese Embassy and consulates in Thailand sent a working team to Phuket this morning to handle the matter. Officials from the Chinese Consulate General in Songkhla went to the hospital to visit the injured that very night, coordinated with the hospitals in their efforts to treat the patients and called on Chinese teachers and and overseas Chinese students to volunteer their assistance in hospitals. The Governor of Phuket Province has also arrived at the scene to oversee the rescue efforts and the Thai navy, maritime police and tourist police have sent many boats and helicopters to assist in the non-stop search and rescue. Rescue efforts have been made on the land, at sea and in the air. We thank Thailand for the search and rescue efforts and the treatment for the injured ones. We hope it will continue to search for the missing ones, treat the injured, comfort the families and properly deal with the follow-up matters. The Chinese government and diplomatic missions in Thailand will continue to make full efforts to assist the Chinese citizens and their families involved. Once again, the hotline of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Global Emergency Call Center for Consular Protection is 12308, and the emergency hotline of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand is 0066-642351752 and 0066-820367651. Also I would like to stress here that recently, there were a succession of traffic accidents involving Chinese tourists overseas. The summer holiday month of July marks a peak season for outbound trips. We again remind Chinese citizens traveling abroad to raise safety awareness, pay close attention to the safety alerts issued by local governments and relevant departments, cautiously arrange for their agenda and put safety first. Q: Firstly, has China actually implemented customs tariff yet? Secondly, when was the last time that President Xi Jinping and President Trump spoke, whether about trade war or anything else? A: With regard to your first question, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, the Commerce Ministry and the General Administration of Customs have issued the information that, the instant that the US' unilateral and unfair imposition of additional tariffs on China came into effect, China's tariff increase on some of American exports also took effect immediately. Regarding your second question, China and the US have maintained communication on issues of mutual concern. As to the specific economic and trade issues you mentioned, China's position is quite clear-cut and consistent and the US officials at various levels are quite clear about it. Q: The UN Secretary General has appointed |