US urged to respect China's core interests

Cold War mentality, zero-sum thought behind the times

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday more and more countries have realized the Cold War mentality and zero-sum thought are behind the times.

Yang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of China's National People's Congress, or the parliament.

Helping each other like passengers in the same boat and seeking mutual benefits and winning together in face of global challenges has become the only way of survival and development, Yang told reporters when asked to comment on changes in international relations over the past decade.

China urges US to make joint efforts to promote sound relationship

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Sunday urged the United States to make joint efforts with China to promote a sound bilateral relationship.

"A sound China-US relationship is not only in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples of the two countries, it is also conducive to the peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large," Yang told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

"China has always attached importance to its relationship with the United States, and we have always been committed to promoting the positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-US relationship," he said.

"We hope that the United States will work with us in a joint effort toward this end," he said.

Sino-Japan relations face great development potential, opportunity

The China-Japan relationship faces great development potential and opportunity, and the two sides should take concerted efforts to push forward the Sino-Japanese mutually beneficial strategic ties, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday.

The two countries should both increase strategic input on the development of ties, and enhance communication and coordination on bilateral, regional and global levels, Yang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the country's annual parliamentary session.

In addition to cooperation in traditional sectors, there are emerging and crucial opportunities for bilateral cooperation, such as energy and environment, circular economy and new high technologies, Yang said.

"China and Japan both locate in Asia and the two sides should work together to contribute to the prosperity of Asia," he said.

FM refutes accusations of China's "tough stance"

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here on Sunday that China was misunderstood by some people who said the country was becoming "tough."

"We stick to our principals, which is totally different from being tough," Yang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

It has always been the mission for China's diplomacy to defend China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and to promote world peace and development, he said.

"It is unfair to label actions safeguarding one's own core interests and dignity as tough and take it for granted infringing interests of a foreign country," said Yang.

Chinese FM expects G20 to play "practical role" in world economic governance

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday that China will work with other parities to enable G20 summit to play an "even bigger and more practical role" in promoting world economic governance.

Yang made the remarks at a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

China calls for more diplomatic efforts to solve Iranian nuclear issue

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Sunday called for more diplomatic efforts to solve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Yang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of China's National People's Congress, or the parliament.

He urged all concerned parties to stick to diplomatic negotiations and use their political wisdom to seek a comprehensive, reasonable and fair solution.

Resumption of six-party talks hopeful, Chinese FM

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday there is a great hope for restoring the stalled six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula issue as long as all parties involved keep in contact and maintain patience.

Yang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, or the parliament.

China firmly opposed to US moves that undermine ties

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday China is firmly opposed to the recent moves of the United States that undermined China's core interests and the overall interests of bilateral ties.

Yang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

He said that the China-U.S relationship had a good start after President Obama took office last year. However, the U.S arms sales to Taiwan and U.S leaders' meeting with the Dalai Lama "caused a serious disturbance to the China-U.S ties and posed difficulty to the cooperation between the two countries," he said.

"Such a situation is not in the interest of either side, and the responsibility for the difficulty in Sino-US relations does not lie with China," he said.

He said China's position had been announced a few days ago, when US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeffrey Bader visited China.

"The Chinese side further stated in full its principled position on China-US relations and on major issues, including Taiwan and Tibet related issues," Yang said.

"We pointed out that the relevant moves taken by the United States side had seriously violated the principles set out in the three China-US joint communiques and the China-US joint statement," he said.

"The moves undermined China's core interests and the overall interests of China-US relations, and China is firmly opposed to these moves," he said.

China highly values relationship with EU

China has highly valued the relationship with the European Union (EU), Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday.

The EU has always been a very important part on the international stage and will play an "increasingly important role, " Yang made the remarks on the sidelines of the annual parliament session.

He said China attached importance not only to the relations with EU as a whole but also those with EU members.