Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On Saturday China  slammed a recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which claimed that China is attempting to "spread false narratives and suppress information on a range of topics" in the Solomon Islands. Chinese authorities said such move is an ineffective attempt to stir trouble.

Published online on Wednesday, the report claimed that the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to influence public discourse in the Solomon Islands through coordinated information operations that seek to spread false narratives and suppress information on a range of topics. 

In response to the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference on Saturday that since China established diplomatic ties with the Solomon Islands three years ago, China has always upheld the principles of mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, openness and inclusiveness. 

China has also vigorously promoted friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields, bringing about abundant achievements that have benefited the local community, Mao said. 

This is the fundamental reason why the public in the Solomon Islands has a growing positive opinion of China and is also the driving force for the two countries' deepening friendship, she noted.   

The people in the Solomon Islands have the final say in telling who is spreading rumors to create trouble and who is helping their country to develop with sincerity, Mao said.

It is useless to try and stir trouble, Mao stressed.  

Global Times