FM affirms rights, interests of developing countries in meetings

China will firmly uphold the shared interests of developing countries and stand on the right side of history, State Councilor and Foreign Ministry Wang Yi said on Wednesday.

The pledge was made by Wang when meeting with foreign ministers from the Gambia and Niger on the sidelines of the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation hosted in Pakistan.

During his talks with Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara, Wang said China is willing to work with Gambia to strengthen bilateral strategic communication and jointly safeguard the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs, a basic norm governing international relations of crucial importance to developing countries.

Wang stressed it is those countries who wantonly smear and denigrate China that have committed numerous crimes to most developing countries and brought conflicts and suffering to Islamic countries.

Noting China's growth contributes to the increase of strength of peace and development, Wang added China stands for equality among all countries regardless of their size and advocates greater democracy in international relations.

China has never engaged in proxy wars nor sought so-called spheres of influence, and opposes power politics and bloc confrontation, he added.

Wang said the revitalization of developing countries represents the trend of human progress and China would firmly stand with developing countries and stand on the right side of history.

Wang congratulated Gambia on winning the right to host the OIC summit this year, adding he believed the country will continue to play an active role in the OIC and promote exchanges and cooperation between China and the Islamic world to a new level.

For his part, Tangara said Gambia, like China, sticks to an independent foreign policy and firmly supports multilateralism and vowed his country would unswervingly adhere to the one-China policy.

He also noted China has played a leading role in promoting global development and made significant contributions to the world's joint fight against COVID-19, adding those self-righteous countries have no qualifications to criticize China.