China spares no effort in protecting Chinese citizens overseas and people can always count on Chinese embassies for consular protection, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.
At a news conference during the two sessions in Beijing, Wang quoted the story of a Chinese survivor from the Jan 28 Malaysian shipwreck, saying how she encouraged other passengers by reassuring them that they would be rescued when the Chinese embassy learned about the situation.
"At the moment of life and death, our people pinned their hopes on the embassy and this helped them preservere," Wang said. "Our people have great trust in Chinese diplomats. This is an enormous responsibility, and we would never betray their trust, or spare any effort to meet our responsibility."
In 2016, the foreign ministry and its overseas missions handled more than 100,000 consular protection cases. China also successfully rescued mainland and Taiwan compatriots who had been held by pirates in the Gulf of Aden for five years, Wang said.
China also evacuated more than 1,000 Chinese citizens from conflicts in South Sudan. It transported more than 1,000 people to safety from earthquakes, fires and blizzards in New Zealand, Israel and Japan, he added.
"Wherever there is danger for the Chinese people overseas, there will be Chinese diplomats to help, and the presence of the five-star red flag," Wang said.
Now, mainland Chinese make more than 120 million outbound visits every year, and for the past six years, this number has been growing by 10 million per year and counting.
"We will face ever more challenging tasks in consular protection," Wang said. "But regardless of difficulties, the Party central committee and the general public can count on the foreign ministry for better consular protection."
