A press conference held on October 20 on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on diplomacy Photo: Li Hao/GT

In response to a question asked by the Global Times during a press conference held on Thursday on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on diplomacy, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said safeguarding sovereignty, security and interests of the development is the starting point and ultimate goal of China to deal with foreign affairs as well as the sacred mission of China's diplomacy. 

Ma also noted that China opposes any form of hegemony and power politics, and will keep fighting in carrying out the country's diplomacy and improving the capability of fighting, standing firmly at the frontline of safeguarding the country's interests and national dignity. 

Xi Jinping's report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out that China has entered a period of development in which strategic opportunities, risks, and challenges are concurrent and uncertainties and unforeseen factors are rising, the CPC should be ready to "withstand high winds, choppy waters, and even dangerous storms." Xi also urged all CPC members to never forget the original aspiration and founding mission and to have the courage and ability to carry on the fight.  

Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi at its core, we maintain strategic determination and carry forward the fighting spirit, safeguarding the country's dignity and interests of development and taking the initiative in taking the right of development and security of our country in our hands, Ma said. For instance, we took resolute countermeasures against the provocative visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island of Taiwan with a series of measures, firmly opposing  "Taiwan independence" secessionist moves, resolutely containing interference of external forces and further consolidating the international consensus on one-China principle. Also, we resolutely implement the ''One Country, Two Systems,'' putting in place the National Security Law for Hong Kong and taking targeted countermeasures against unreasonable sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries, the Vice Foreign Minister said. 

We have also exposed lies through presenting the truth and thwarted some political attempts to contain China by using Xinjiang affairs and we steadily advanced the negotiation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea in safeguarding the overall stability of the region. 

"We emphasize the courage to fight, which could be seen as a very strong self-protective defense," a Beijing-based expert on foreign relations told the Global Times on Thursday. In the past, the West usually smeared and attacked us in an aggressive way but China sometimes kept it low key, but now we take the initiative to fight back, which is a major difference, he said. 

Particularly when the US-led West distorts and smears our intentions and acts in a malicious way, China has to expose their intentions and fight back, which aims to not only make the attacker's attempt fail but also help more third parties to make their own judgment on who stands on the side of justice and to win more understanding and support, the expert noted. 

On human rights issue, China will never accept condescending and patronizing lectures, and opposes the politicization of the issue.   Nearly 100 countries in the UN support China's justified position, reject using human rights as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs, Ma told the press conference. More than 80 countries oppose politicization of the COVID-19 origins-tracing, Ma said. We oppose all kinds of unilateral sanctions and extreme pressure, and will never accept any zero-sum game or the law of the jungle.

The characteristics of our diplomacy are becoming clearer with a more active position by including foreseeable thinking and strategic consideration, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday. "Now, more countries also hope that China could stand out as some have been suffering from the US-led hegemony for a long time." 

Some Western media and observers have been interpreting such spirit of fighting as "wolf diplomacy," which is also a distortion of our good intentions, especially when China's diplomacy emphasizes on mutual respect and peaceful coexistence with the aim of safeguarding its own core interests, some experts said. In the future, it's necessary to carry on such spirit in safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security and interests of development on a number of affairs related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and so on, they noted. 

In addition to the fighting spirit in defensive nature, China should also actively push forward our diplomatic narratives in some new areas, for example, by advancing the ideas such as building a community with a shared future for mankind, Global Development Initiative, and Global Security Initiative to further elaborate on what  democracy, justice and freedom really are, Wang said. 

Compared to the US-led Western political bloc that entails protectionism, trade barriers and bloc-driven security, China's diplomacy focuses on the benefits for the general public, the Beijing-based expert said. "In terms of security, it means to take each other's concerns into account, which shows the concept of universal equality and inseparable security," he said.