Thread by @AmbLiuXiaoMing

On July 16, I gave an online interview to Catherine Philp,diplomatic correspondent @thetimes. On July 18,The Times reported on interview but failed to reflect truthfully what I said&misrepresented China’s position on some important issues.Transcript below. chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/dshdjjh/t1…

Q: Is this the worst the relations have been between UK-China?
A: During my 10 years time here, I've seen the relationship continue to move forward despite twists and turns.

A: We had seen British leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama, the leader of separatist movement, a departure from British commitment to one-China policy and regarding Tibet as a part of China.

A:We also have seen British royal navy ship Albion invading China's territorial waters, which also caused big problem. It's a departure from British commitment to the basic norms governing international relations, that is, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity.

A:We have new problems. #Huawei is one of the biggest, it's not only about one company. It's about China. It's really about how how UK regards China and how UK treats China.

A: Do they regard China as an opportunity, or regard China as a challenge or as a threat? Or do you regard China as a friendly country you can work with? Or do you regard China as a hostile country or a potentially hostile country?

A:Huawei has been given many labels. Some call it a company from a potentially hostile country; some regard it as a high-risk vendor. Huawei has been here for 20 years, but all of a sudden, people found it is a high-risk vendor, &they forget all the contribution Huawei has made.

Q: What advice would you give to Chinese companies about any future investment when you look at Huawei?
A: Chinese companies don’t even need me to give them advice. They can see for themselves. Huawei is an example. It used to be shining example for China-UK win-win cooperation.

A: I still remember that when Americans tried very hard to suppress Huawei, the British leaders told me, we are open. The only Chinese company they can pronounce one hundred percent correct is Huawei. That shows UK was open and free, you were really the flag bearer.

A: That’s one of the reasons why there are so many Chinese companies coming here. In the past 10 years. Chinese investment in the UK increased 20 times. When I first came here, there was only 1 billion USD of Chinese investment. Now there are 20 billion USD Chinese investment.

A: Now UK is the largest recipient of Chinese investment in Europe. When Chinese investments come here, they are not only creating jobs, creating opportunities, promoting growth. What is more important is that Chinese companies have grown together with the UK.

A: Huawei is the leader in 5G, covers 40% of China's total market&has a 40% market share around world. UK started developing 5G earlier, but relatively slow in terms of installation. UK people are very intelligent&very far-sighted.They know how to take advantage of opportunities.

A: This is a big opportunity for UK. Your government has ambitious plan to have a full 5G coverage by 2025&Huawei wants to help&contribute. But unfortunately, you have this decision based on unwarranted accusation, &based on so called fabricated accusation about security risk.

A: There’s even political manipulation. When you listen to American leaders, they tried to take credit for exerting pressure on UK. So I think UK really missed the opportunities.

A: Choosing Huawei is choosing opportunities for growth&jobs, and rejecting Huawei is rejecting opportunities&growth. I now would say, rejecting Huawei is rejecting the future. 5G really represents the future.

A: 5G is not only about cell phone. It will improve the quality, clarity and speed. I think 5G is really about everything, automation and economy, etc. 5G plays a big part in fighting Covid-19 in China and Wuhan, by way of remote medication. Also, 5G covered all the hospitals.

A: And it provides better protection for medical and health care workers. So 5G represents the future for not only the industry but also our daily life. I think UK has missed the opportunity to be a leading country in this area.

Q: China Research Group in Parliament are pushing a much harder line against China.What do you make of it?
A: Some politicians have their political agenda,might thought this is an opportunity to bash China. Now they have American leaders, to them so-called leader of“free world”.

A: When UK political leaders worked with China for “golden era”, for benefit of 2 countries, main stream was about better relationship&strong partnership. They might not have a role to play, now they think it’s time to take advantage of China-US “confrontation” or “frictions”.

A:They dance to the tune of the Americans. The important thing is the national leaders should have a vision about what is in the fundamental interests of the country. They should not succumb to political pressure. They should not be led by “China hawks” or “China bashers”.

A: China-UK relations are too important to be kidnapped by those anti-China forces or anti-China-UK collaboration forces. At the end of the day it’s the people who will pay the price.

A: I really do not think the British people would like to pay higher price for less-quality products. You might have heard business leaders expressing their concerns about the spike in price and the delay of 5G.

A: The government will pay the bill, but where will it get the money? From the tax payers. At the end of the day, it’s the consumers -- the ordinary people, who will have to pay the bill.

A: Huawei has created about 26,000 jobs, and set up six research centres hiring about 300 to 400 researchers here. They just bought a piece of land in Cambridge and are going to build the optoelectronics R&D centre in the UK.

A:UK government’s decision has also broken industrial supply chain. The UK does not have much manufacturing capacity, but you have talented people, technology and brain. And Huawei has the manufacturing power and also research people.

A: China and the UK can work together on the high end of 5G technology, and the two countries can then match the strengths, grow together and be the 5G leaders in the world. But now things have changed.

Q: Are there certain political forces who want Chinese to be the new enemy?
A: Absolutely. I think some American and European politicians are trying to blame China for everything, for the problem of their own making. China is an easy target. It’s an easy thing to blame China.

A: Because of China being so successful, they are very jealous. Some people want to start a “new cold war” on China, want to make an enemy in order to increase their military budget. If there's no enemy, they will certainly try to create an enemy.

A: China is not the former Soviet Union. China has been around for 5,000 years without the United States, even without the UK. China has survived many setbacks and difficulties, twists and turns. We overcome all these difficulties.

A: We made achievements from standing up, achieving independence and liberation, to getting richer, people's lives have been greatly improved especially in the past 40 years, and we contributed more than 70% of global poverty reduction.

A: We are getting stronger. We want to take up more responsibilities that match China's status as the second-largest economy. When we first joined the UN, our contribution to the UN budget was minimal.

A: But now we are the second biggest contributor to the UN budget, second biggest contributor to peacekeeping budget of the UN and the largest contributor to UN peacemaking missions among the five permanent members of the Security Council.

A: We want to make more contribution to mankind and the world. But some people are not very happy because they do not like China’s system. They do not like the Communist Party. They think that China does not look like them.

A: They are not happy when the country is getting stronger and prosperous, and its people are happier and richer. So that's a completely different concept. We adopt a concept of peaceful coexistence. We want to be friends with all countries.

Q: UK is to send an aircraft carrier to Pacific or South China Sea. What message it’s sending?
A: It will be a very dangerous move.After Brexit, UK still wants to play an important role in the world.But that is not a way to play an important role. UK should play a positive role.

A: South China Sea is peaceful&tranquil as a result of China's efforts to work with the other neighboring countries. We are working on COC (Code of Conduct in South China Sea). Freedom of navigation is a fake concept. There's no problem with free navigation in South China Sea.

A: In the past many years, nobody could give a single incident that merchant vessels had been harassed or interrupted. 60% of China’s oil supply passes through South China Sea. So China is the last country which would like to see instability and turbulent situation in this area.

A: China has legitimate right to defend sovereignty&territorial integrity. We have our rights recognized by international law. US keeps sending naval vessels traveling all the way from US to South China Sea, only for purpose to provoke, infringe&trample on China's sovereignty.

A: I don't want to see that the UK would like to gang up with the United States to challenge China’s sovereignty and disrupt the stability and tranquility in the region. I hope the UK after Brexit should play a role for peace, rather than creating turbulence and problems.

Q: China said #BNO is a gross interference. How China would appeal or respond to so-called Hong Kong parliament in exile?
A: BNO is a very bad idea. This is a total misreading and misinterpretation of National Security Law.

A: This law is enacted for the purpose of plugging loopholes of the legal system in Hong Kong with regard to national security risk. Last year, Hong Kong was plunged into chaos.Any responsible government will take measures to address this situation.

A: HK has to enact laws to punish or suppress 7 categories of crimes endanger national security. In past 23 years, because of some opposition leaders and troublemakers’ scaremongering, this law has not been enacted. It does not prevent the Central Government from taking measures.

A: In the UK, it is the UK government and UK parliament that are responsible for national security in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. So the same thing can be said about China.

A: Hong Kong is part of China. This Law is about restoring order and responding to the outcry of HK for chaos to be stopped. But UK made wrong reaction to it and violated its commitment. BNO will cause disruption in the situation there.

A: The UK side keeps telling us that they too would like to see Hong Kong remain prosperous and stable. But this measure will not contribute to prosperity or stability in Hong Kong. It will do just the opposite.

A: UK goes back on its commitment. When we reached agreement with the UK, we have a separate document and the UK committed that they would not give right of abode to BNO holders. But now they have completely changed their position.

A: So-called parliament in exile is a group whose aim is separation of China, or Hong Kong independence. It's a completely anti-China organization with the purpose of sabotaging “One Country, Two Systems”.

A: If UK permits this kind of activities, UK violates its commitment to abide by the basic norms governing international relations, that is, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. That will be another serious problem between China and the UK.

A: We talked about so many issues, HK&Huawei. It's all about trust. It's all about how you look at China. If you regard China as a potentially hostile country, you would do everything, just as “China hawks” & “China bashers” would take any opportunity to attack China.

A: At the end of the day, they will work against interest of the UK, because I think that China-UK relationship is in the best interest of not only China but also UK. I think our two countries have enormous potentials to work together for many things, not only bilaterally.

A: Two countries can work together to contribute to world peace, stability, and so many international agenda, such as climate change, sustainable development, peace, UN affairs, G20 and international free trade.

A: We have a broader agenda before China and the UK. We should be partners and friends. In order to do that, we need to build up basic trust and respect each other. That's the foundation of the relationship.

Q:Your comment on Embassy has been accused by Foreign Affairs Committee of trying to interfere in academic freedom in UK universities.
A: That is a fake accusation. Those people are still living in Cold War years. I have contact with Chinese students. There are 200,000 here.

A: I encourage them to study hard. I believe they represent the future of the country and the future of China-UK relations. We encourage them to use what they learn to serve their country. Is that any problem?

A: What if UK ambassador in China visited the university and gave a speech saying to students that “you should study hard and serve your country”. Is this called interference in academic freedom? I think this is totally absurd. That shows the mentality of those people.

A: UK received the earliest group of Chinese students, starting from 1972. Many of these students now occupy very important positions in China. I think our ambassador then, our first ambassador in 1972, may have said the same thing to them.

A: Among these graduates from the UK, there are diplomats, scientists working in China. They are also working for better collaboration and partnership between China and the UK because they understand the UK.

A: Some “Cold War warriors” even try to pick a fight with me on this issue. That's my job as ambassador. I do not see there's anything wrong. My final word is China is the UK's opportunity. we want to be your friends and partners. We want to have a win-win corporation with UK.