Global Times, huanqiu.com:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, "fighting" has increasingly become a high-frequency word and also a keyword in China's diplomacy. How does China's diplomacy demonstrate the fighting spirit in terms of safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security, and development interests?

Ma Zhaoxu:

I will answer this question. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress highlighted that as China has entered a period of development in which strategic opportunities, risks, and challenges are concurrent and uncertainties and unforeseen factors are rising, we must be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters, and even dangerous storms. We must carry forward our fighting spirit. We must foster a firmer sense of purpose, fortitude, and self-belief in the whole Party and the Chinese people so that we cannot be swayed by fallacies, deterred by intimidation, or cowed by pressure. We must meet obstacles and difficulties head on, ensure both development and security, dig deep to surmount the difficulties and challenges on the road ahead, and harness our indomitable fighting spirit to open up new horizons for our cause.

Safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests is the top priority of China's external work and the sacred mission of China's diplomacy. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we have maintained firm strategic resolve, shown a fighting spirit, firmly safeguarded our national dignity and core interests, and kept ourselves well-positioned to pursue development and ensure security.

We have firmly safeguarded the leadership of the CPC and the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We have vigorously fought against Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to Taiwan and other spiteful and perverse acts, resolutely opposed any acts seeking "Taiwan independence," firmly curbed external interference, and further consolidated the international consensus of the one-China principle. We have unswervingly implemented the principle of "one country, two systems", assisted the entry into force and implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and precisely countered the unreasonable sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries. We have exposed lies with facts and the truth and defeated the political scheme of some forces to "use Xinjiang to contain China." We have steadily advanced consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and maintained the overall stability of the situation in the South China Sea. We have followed a Chinese path of human rights development, and we will never accept being bossed around by those who feel they have the right to overbearingly lecture us and oppose the politicization of human rights issues. At the United Nations, nearly a hundred countries have expressed their support for China's just position and opposition to interference in China's internal affairs on the pretext of human rights. More than 80 countries have opposed politicizing the COVID-19 virus' origin tracing. We have opposed all kinds of unilateral sanctions and maximum-pressure tactics, and will never accept any zero-sum game or the law of the jungle.

Being brave and adept in carrying out our struggle is a fine tradition and a distinctive feature of China's diplomacy. We firmly pursue an independent foreign policy of peace. We uphold justice in defiance of power politics and resolutely oppose all forms of hegemonism and power politics. We have an unswerving and rock-solid determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. On the new journey, China's diplomacy will continue to carry forward the fighting spirit, improve the ability to fight, and always stand at the forefront of safeguarding national interests and dignity. Thank you!