The People’s Republic of China reiterated this Sunday its support for Argentine claims of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and ratified the need to resume “as soon as possible” the negotiations for the peaceful solution of the dispute with the United Kingdom.
This was established in the joint statement released at the end of the bilateral meeting between presidents Alberto Fernández and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinpingwhich took place this morning at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing.
“Both parties ratified their commitment to continue providing strong reciprocal support to their respective sovereign interests,” says the official statement.
“In this way, the Argentine Party reaffirmed its adherence to the principle of one China, while the Chinese Party reiterated its support for the claims of full exercise of sovereignty by Argentina in the Question of the Malvinas Islands, as well as the resumption as soon as possible of the negotiations aimed at the peaceful solution of the dispute, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Organization”, add the text.
China’s support generated a reaction against the British chancellor, Liz Trussto whom the Secretary of Malvinas, Antarctica and the South Atlantic replied, William Carmonawho urged the United Kingdom to comply “with the resolutions of the United Nations Organization (UN) on Malvinas” in terms of resolving the dispute through negotiations.
Truss said on Twitter that “we completely reject any question about the sovereignty of the Falklands (sic). The Falklands are part of the British family and we will defend their right to self-determination.” He later rejected Xi Jinping’s support for Argentina’s claim to sovereignty: “China must respect the sovereignty of the Falklands,” Truss said.
We completely reject any questions about sovereignty of the Falklands.
The Falklands are part of the British family and we will defend their right to self determination.
China must respect the Falklands’ sovereignty ????
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) February 6, 2022
“Ms. @trussliz (Liz Truss): The United Kingdom must respect international law and the call of the international community. We hope that the United Kingdom complies with the UN Resolutions on #Malvinas,” Carmona said, also on his Twitter account.
Carmona added that “Argentina and the United Kingdom must resume dialogue and negotiations on sovereignty“. The secretary, who issued the message in Spanish and English, completed the publication with the hashtag “#LasMalvinasSonArgentinas”
At this Sunday’s meeting, Fernández and Xi Jinping also highlighted the work carried out by both parties with the aim of setting up a Subcommittee on Oceanic, Antarctic and Conservation Affairs, within the framework of the Permanent Binational Commission between the two governments.
Ms @trussliz: The UK must respect international law and the call of the international community. We expect the UK to comply with UN Resolutions on #falklands. ARG and UK must resume dialogue and negotiations on sovereignty#The Falklands are Argentine ?? https://t.co/9D8an0lezW
– Guillermo Carmona (@grcarmonac) February 6, 2022
“This initiative reflects the cooperation that both countries have regarding the seas, the conservation of their resources and the Antarctic spaces,” says the joint statement.
Last year, an intervention by China in the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations Organization involved an unusual event due to the degree of accompaniment that the Asian giant showed before the Argentine claim for the sovereignty of the Malvinas.
In the last edition of that forum, on June 24 of last year, Beijing’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, urged Argentina and the United Kingdom to comply with resolution 2065 of the UN General Assembly ( issued in 1965), which implies resuming the dialogue in the face of the territorial dispute, but then went a step further: it stated that “China firmly supports Argentina’s legitimate claim to the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands”.
On that occasion, the representative from Beijing, referring to the islands and the surrounding maritime space, stressed that “China’s position on the Malvinas issue is consistent”, urged the United Kingdom to start a dialogue with Argentina to find “a peaceful, just and lasting solution”, but centrally it explicitly stated that “China firmly supports Argentina’s legitimate claim to the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands”.
