China accuses EU’s Kallas of ‘stoking confrontation’
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas’s statements regarding the leaders of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea gathering in Beijing are “ideologically biased” and blatantly confrontational, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in Beijing on Wednesday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of imperial Japan’s defeat in World War II.
Speaking to journalists in Brussels later in the day, Kallas branded their appearance together a “direct challenge to the international system built on rules,” and called on the EU to “confront” this new reality.
When asked to comment on her statements on Thursday, Guo said they were both disrespectful to WWII history and harmful to EU interests.
”The statements by the relevant EU official are full of ideological bias without basic historical common sense and blatantly stoke rivalry and confrontation,” he said in a ministry briefing, calling Kallas’ words “very wrongful and irresponsible.”
“In the current volatile and turbulent international landscape, the world needs, more than ever, solidarity and cooperation,” Guo added. “However, some EU leaders have been sticking to a Cold-War mentality and severe ideological bias and deliberately created division and confrontation.”
During the summit in Tianjin which preceded the parade, Xi proposed the creation of a new, more equitable global governance system based on mutual respect and opposition to Western hegemony.
”There should be no double standards, and the house rules of a few countries must not be imposed upon others,” the Chinese president said.
Putin has lauded the proposal as one especially relevant when “some countries still do not abandon their desire for dictatorship in international affairs.”
