China standing firm in face of disinformation campaign by the West

China will not be "intimidated" or "buckle under the pressure" in the face of a disinformation campaign led by the United States and championed by a handful of Western politicians and will instead remain committed to following its own path, said Zheng Zeguang, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

"While leading the Chinese people to achieve national liberation and development, the CPC (the Communist Party of China) has been subjected to intentional slandering, isolation, and attacks from anti-communism and anti-China forces," Zheng said.

"However, we were not intimidated and we did not buckle under the pressure. We remained committed to doing the right thing and following the path of our own choice, because we firmly believe that ours is a just cause, and a just cause is invincible.

"History has proven this to be true and will again prove it true."

Zheng made the comments during an online forum on Tuesday commemorating the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

He said a handful of politicians in the West, instigated by some elements in the US, have once again launched a disinformation campaign against China, and he said it is a campaign that shows "no sign of slowing down".

The ambassador said those involved in it have decided to overlook China's efforts in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic and instead try to smear the nation for alleged issues in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the province of Taiwan.

"They turned a blind eye to the fact that China effectively brought the COVID-19 epidemic under control in an open and transparent manner, and chose to manipulate the issue of origin-tracing, in an attempt to stigmatize China," he said.

"They turned a blind eye to Xinjiang's economic progress, ethnic solidarity, and social stability, and stuck a 'genocide' label on China's justified measures to tackle terrorism and radicalization, and to maintain social stability."

Even China's efforts to defend its policies and actions regarding those matters were portrayed as "spreading false information" by that handful of politicians, he added.

Zheng said accusing China of "spreading false information" is, in fact, an attempted cover-up of the political agenda and hypocrisy of its accusers.

And he warned that the disinformation created by some Western countries is now causing a series of negative effects.

"It is preventing the people of Western countries from knowing the truth; it is misleading people's minds; it is also creating estrangement and confrontation between major countries, which hampers the joint global efforts to fight the pandemic and tackle climate change," he explained.

The ambassador added that it is up to the people of a nation to choose the path of development that best suits their country.

The CPC and the Chinese people have strong confidence in the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. At the same time, China respects the choices of other nations as they follow their development paths.

"China does not ask others to 'copy' China's system. And we resolutely oppose any attempt from outside to force China to change its system, and we firmly reject the deliberate propagation of a so-called 'new Cold War'", Zheng said.

The ambassador, who once studied in the UK, emphasized that China represents an opportunity for the UK's development, not a threat.

"China and the UK may have differences in history, culture, and development stage. It is only natural that we do not always see eye-to-eye on every issue," Zheng said. "It is crucial for us to respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and engage in dialogue on an equal footing in order to reduce misperception and build up consensus and mutual trust."

He believes there is huge potential and broad prospects for practical cooperation between the two countries across the board, from trade and investment to infrastructure and financial services, and from science and technology to education and healthcare.

China replaced Germany as Britain's largest import market during the first quarter of this year.

"We should also expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges," he said. "In doing so, we can certainly bring more and tangible gains to the peoples of our two countries."

The ambassador said China and the UK have significant global influence and noted that it is important that the nations enhance dialogue and coordination on global issues.

"The CPC stands ready to enhance exchanges and dialogues with the political parties of all countries, including the UK. We hope to learn from each other and make progress together," he added.