(20 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beijing – 20 August 2024
1. Wide of news conference
2. Wide of reporters
3. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
“The U.S. is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to intervene in the maritime issue between China and the Philippines, nor should they use the Mutual Defense Treaty as an excuse to jeopardize China’s sovereignty and rights and interests in the South China Sea. The U.S. needs to stop instigating confrontation in the South China Sea and refrain from undermining stability and fueling tensions in the region.”
4. Wide of reporters
5. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
++STARTS ON BLURRING SHOT++
“Hong Kong national security law targets only a handful of criminal elements who seriously endanger national security, not the media workers observing the law and discipline. Since the law came into force, press freedom in Hong Kong has received better protection according to law under a safe and stable environment. This cannot be denied by any non-biased people. ”
6. Reporters
7. Wide of news conference
STORYLINE:
China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday warned the U.S. that it “has no right to intervene” in China-Philippine maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at the ministry’s daily news briefing in Beijing after the U.S. State Department issued a statement condemning Chinese vessels’ “dangerous” actions against Philippine coast guard ships during the Monday collision near the contested Sabina Shoal.
Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided at sea, damaging at least two vessels, in an encounter early Monday near a new flashpoint in their increasingly alarming confrontations in the disputed South China Sea.
Mao argued that the U.S. was not a regional country and should not use its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines to undermine China’s sovereign rights in the waters.
“The U.S. needs to stop instigating confrontation in the South China Sea and refrain from undermining stability and fueling tensions in the region,” Mao added.
Sabina Shoal, claimed by China as Xianbin Reef, has become a new flashpoint in the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines.
Sabina lies near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly alarming confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships and accompanying vessels since last year.
At the briefing, Mao dismissed the Hong Kong media workers’ concerns over the sweeping national security law which they believed has badly impacted press freedom in the semi-autonomous region.
“Hong Kong national security law targets only a handful of criminal elements who seriously endanger national security, not the journalists observing the law and discipline,” Mao underscored.
According to the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s (HKJA) annual press freedom index published on Tuesday, the rating by the city’s reporters was only 25 out of 100, the lowest since the survey was launched in 2013.
Scores of pro-democracy activists have been arrested under the law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020 following the demonstrations, including veteran lawmaker Martin Lee and publisher Jimmy Lai.
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