Chinese FM says COVID-19 may not have started in China, warns Norway on Nobel Peace Prize
The Chinese Foreign Minister is on a five-nation tour of Europe. Today he warned Norway of the consequences of a Nobel Peace Prize choice that does not please Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wรกng Yรฌ ็ๆฏ is in Norway, the third stop on a five-nation tour โintended to boost Chinese-European cooperation.โ
Heโs already met with his Italian and Dutchย counterparts. France and Germany are next. But yesterday in Oslo he met Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Sรธreide and gave a press briefing with her.
- They said their talks โfocused on multilateralism, as Norway prepared to take up a rotational seat on the United Nations Security Council, of which China is a permanent member,โ according to the South China Morning Post.
- โBoth officials stressed that this was the first visit to Norway by a Chinese foreign minister in 15 years,โ which the SCMP calls โa subtle reference to the previously frozen diplomatic relationship between 2010 and 2016, after the Oslo-based Nobel Peace Prize committee awarded the prize to Chinese dissident Liรบ Xiวobล ๅๆๆณข.โ
Wang made veiled warningsย of a similar freeze, when asked by a reporter how China would react if the Hong Kong protesters were to receive the prize: ย
- โI would only say one thing: In the past, today, and in future, China will firmly reject any attempt by anyone to use the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere in China’s internal affairsโฆ We donโt want to see anyone politicize the Nobel Peace Prize.โ
Wang also took time to revive the COVID-19ย story that the Chinese government occasionally brings out:
- โMuch information and research indicated that this disease could be tracked in different places, many of which were discovered earlier than the incidents in Chinaโฆ Where did the virus first start and how it startedโฆshould be left to scientists and medical expertsโฆ It should not be politicizedย or stigmatized,โ Wang told reporters.
