UK urged not to target Chinese scholars, impede normal exchanges
People's Daily app
1612352097000

File Photo: CGTN

China called on all parties to support and facilitate normal exchanges and cooperation rather than impose barriers, Chinese Embassy in the UK said on Wednesday.

The remark was made in response to an alleged move by the UK to block thousands of Chinese academics and researchers from entering the country amid concerns over the theft of intellectual property.

"We urge relevant parties to support and facilitate normal exchanges and cooperation rather than impose barriers and end up serving no one's interests," the spokesperson said.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK voiced opposition to distorting and smearing bilateral ties and closing the door to normal exchanges, and called on relevant parties to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game mindset.

Viewing innovation as the primary driving force for development, China is attaching great importance to intellectual property protection and the country has seen progress in this field with the improvement of the relevant legal system. Accusing Chinese academics of theft of intellectual property is completely untenable.

The world's second largest economy is also seeking to strengthen bilateral relations with the UK in several fields, including education. Educational exchanges between the two countries are essential to enhancing mutual understanding between the Chinese and British people, boosting educational and social progress in both countries and promoting exchanges and mutual learning between the Oriental and Western civilizations. The embassy hailed such cooperation as mutually beneficial, open, transparent and beyond reproach.

The embassy also noted that in an era of globalization, the world is increasingly interdependent with deeply integrated interests and becoming a community with a shared future. Solidarity and cooperation is the only right choice.

(Compiled by Liu Kechen)