China assures continuing support to Sri Lanka at international forums

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi assured his Sri Lankan counterpart that China opposed tactics used by Western countries to pressure developing countries on the pretext of human rights, stressing continuing support from the Chinese government to Sri Lanka in  international forums.

He also indicated that China firmly opposes this, and is willing to “unswervingly support each other with Sri Lanka to jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, the basic norms governing international relations, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter including non-interference in other countries' internal affairs,”, according to a statement from Chinese embassy in Colombo following a phone conversation between the two countries’ Foreign Ministers.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with  Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the latter's request.

In recent years, Minister Gunawardena said, some Western countries, including the United States, have once again exploited the human rights issues, and baselessly accused developing countries including Sri Lanka in the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. He expressed his hope that China will continue to uphold justice and stand with developing countries, the statement said.

Minister Gunawardena also congratulated China on the 100th anniversary of the CPC's founding, saying that China has, under the leadership of the CPC, completely lifted itself out of poverty, made great development achievements, and significantly improved the livelihood of its people.