China at World Peace Forum: Foreign Intervention Denied

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that his country will not accept any interference in its internal affairs, and will not allow others to hinder and curb its development and growth, as he put it.

During the opening ceremony of the Ninth World Peace Forum at Xinhua University in Beijing on Saturday, the Chinese foreign minister stressed that his country today is no longer what it was a hundred years ago and that "no individual or force should underestimate the determination and capacity of the Chinese people to uphold the country's sovereignty, security, and development interests."

The Chinese minister's standpoint comes after Washington announced that China's rapid strengthening of its nuclear capabilities is a matter of "concern", regarding a report published by the "Washington Post" newspaper last Thursday, that China has started building more than 110 launch silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping had previously warned in a speech that "the Chinese people will never allow any external force to oppress, or enslave them, and whoever dares to do so “will surely break their heads on the steel Great Wall built with the blood and flesh of 1.4 billion of Chinese people," and stressed that "The time for bullying against China is over."

At the forum, the Chinese Foreign Minister addressed the Iranian nuclear issue and believed that the main roots of the nuclear crisis are due to the unilateral US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and its maximum pressure on Tehran, calling on Washington to return to the agreement and respect its 2015 decision.

China's Xinhua News Agency reported that Wang Yi said at the forum on Saturday that "it is wise for the one who paid the arrow to undo his release," adding that "the United States should return to the nuclear agreement as soon as possible and correct its mistake in this regard."

Regarding Afghanistan, the Chinese Foreign Minister considered that "the United States is the one that created the problems and conflicts in Afghanistan in the first place, and others should not bear it’s the burden," explaining that "Washington's withdrawal from Afghanistan should not be an abdication of responsibility."

He called on the international community to oppose American unilateralism, considering that "the United States' attempt in the Indo-Pacific region aims to revive the mentality of the Cold War," which should be abandoned and thrown.

"These reports and other developments suggest that the PRC's nuclear arsenal will grow more quickly, and to a higher level than perhaps previously anticipated," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a press conference at the State Department's headquarters on Friday.