Geng Shuang, spokesperson for Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaks at a press briefing on March 7, 2017. (PHOTO / FMPRC.GOV.CN)
BEIJING – China has never attached any political conditions to aiding the Maldives, and the aid has done no harm to the country's sovereignty and independence, let alone jeopardized the Indian Ocean area's security, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday.
China had continued to facilitate infrastructure development and livelihood cooperation with the Maldives on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment
Geng Shuang, Spokesperson, Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Geng Shuang Geng said this at a press briefing in response to an article written by the Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed.
In the article published by Indian Express Wednesday, Nasheed criticized the Maldives' President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, saying that in "his endless quest to enrich himself, he has sold off the nation's sovereignty."
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Nasheed also said that foreign powers, including China, were engaged in a "land grab" of Maldivian islands' key infrastructure and even essential utilities. "This land grab not only undermines the independence of the Maldives, but the security of the entire Indian Ocean region," he wrote.
"Nasheed's words are nonsense," said Geng, pointing out that China sent aid to the Maldives while Nasheed was in power and had made substantial achievements.
"I wonder whether Mr Nasheed put all the cooperation on the list as a 'grab'," he said.
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China had continued to facilitate infrastructure development and livelihood cooperation with the Maldives on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment, said the spokesperson.
He said that friendly cooperation between China and Maldives was in line with the common interest of the two countries and their peoples.
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