China asks intl’ creditors, financial institutions to help out Pakistan

Beijing: Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning asked the international creditors and financial institutions to play a constructive role for Pakistan’s economic and social stability efforts.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the radical financial and monetary policies of a ‘certain developed country’ and their serious spillover effects are the primary cause of the financial difficulties experienced by Pakistan and many other developing countries.

Mao Ning expressed these words while responding to a question regarding Pakistan economic woes during weekly press briefing at the Foreign Ministry office in Beijing on Thursday.

She said China and Pakistan were all-weather strategic and cooperative partners and iron brothers, pointing out that the two sides had always shared weal and woe together and supported each other. A reporter had asked her that  both Moody’s and Fitch had held that Pakistan had $7 billion of debt due by June this year, including those from China.

“So, will the loans be rolled over?,” asked the reporter to which she replied that she would refer the question to the competent Chinese authorities.. However she said China had been in close economic and financial cooperation with Pakistan and supported its efforts to maintain economic stability, improve lives and achieve self-generated developments. The Western-dominated commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions account for the lion’s share of developing countries’ debt. China calls on concerted efforts from all parties to play a constructive role in Pakistan’s economic and social stability efforts.

To another question, the Chinese spokesperson said, “We have noted the report. Children are the future and our hope for a better world. Promoting and protecting their rights is an integral part of the international human rights cause,”.

She said that  promoting children’s wellbeing is a great priority for China. On this day 31 years ago, China submitted to the UN the document ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Since then, we have actively fulfilled our obligations under the Convention, guided by the principle of the best interests of the child, stayed committed to a development philosophy that gives priority to children’s welfare, and protected child rights. With notable progress in promoting child health, China has been named one of the ten best performing countries in maternal and child health by the World Health Organization. In terms of protecting children’s right to education, China has put in place the world’s largest education system. By either adopting or amending the Civil Code, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, the Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, and with the entry into force of Anti-Domestic Violence Law, China has further improved the legal system of child rights protection.

In the meantime, she said the Chinese  are aware that the US is the only UN member that has not ratified the CRC. According to a recent report in the New York Times, there has been an explosive growth of illegal child labor across the US in recent years. From mines to farms, from meat processing plants to metal stamping factories, tens of thousands of children work heavy and even dangerous jobs. At US border detention facilities for refugees, thousands of children suffer from rampant diseases, unclean food and forced separation from their parents. American children and teens are 15 times more likely to die from gunfire than their peers in 31 other high-income countries combined. In 2022 alone, more than 6,000 children were killed or wounded in shooting incidents.

To realize full protection of child rights globally remains an uphill battle. China will continue to take an active part in international cooperation and work for greater progress in the global cause to improve children’s wellbeing. We also call on the US to ratify the the Convention on the Rights of the Child as soon as possible and take action to effectively protect children’s rights.

Responding to a question that the US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to give President Joe Biden the power to ban Chinese-owned TikTok, so what was Chinese view on it, she stated that the US had been over-stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress foreign companies. “We are firmly against that. The US should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing the companies and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the US,” she added.