Opposing 'Baekji Protest' Crackdown... China Says "Focus on Your Own Issues"

Zhao Lijian, Spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Noh Kyung-jo] China is showing little willingness to heed the international calls not to suppress participants in the 'blank paper protests' opposing its high-intensity epidemic prevention policies.

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a regular briefing on the 1st that regarding U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remark that "cracking down on peaceful protests is a sign of weak Chinese leadership," "What the United States should do is seriously respond to the voices of its own people and do its own job well."

He continued, "The United States has a pile of domestic problems, and with its 'tangping' (a mindset of giving up effort due to physical and mental exhaustion) policy on COVID-19, it has the highest number of infections and deaths in the world," emphasizing, "The United States has no qualification to criticize China's epidemic prevention achievements."

He further asserted, "China's epidemic prevention policy has proven to protect the people's life safety and physical health to the greatest extent and minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development," claiming that their own epidemic prevention policy is superior to that of the West.

Spokesperson Zhao also responded the previous day to a foreign journalist's point that some foreign governments and overseas Chinese sympathize with the blank paper protests by saying, "Some of the countries you mentioned have mountains of domestic problems," and added, "We hope they do not interfere in other countries' affairs and pay attention to the voices of their own people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.