- Title: China says has helped U.S. diplomats return to the country
- Date: 2nd July 2020
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JULY 2, 2020) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ZHAO LIJIAN ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ZHAO LIJIAN, SAYING: "China and the U.S. have maintained close communication on the return of U.S. diplomats to China. Previously as negotiated by the two sides, China already assisted the U.S. in arranging a chartered flight to send back the U.S. diplomats." MEDIA SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ZHAO LIJIAN, SAYING: "Now the spread of the epidemic continues outside of China, and China is still facing a great pressure to prevent imported cases. The prevention measures taken by the Chinese side treat all foreign embassies in China as equals. China is committed to working with the personnel of foreign diplomatic missions to safeguard China's hard-won achievements in the fight against COVID-19 and provide good conditions and environment for people living and working in China." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS EXTERIOR OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE FLAG FLYING
- Embargoed: 16th July 2020 11:23
- Keywords: COVID-19 China China-US relations coronavirus diplomats foreign ministry briefing the United States
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001CL47SJR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: China said on Thursday (July 2) it had helped U.S. diplomats return to the country by arranging a chartered flight for them, without offering details including when the flight occurred.
Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks during a daily briefing in Beijing.
The United States has postponed flights for dozens of American diplomats who had planned to return to China later this month, after failing to reach agreement with Beijing over issues including COVID-19 testing and quarantine.
Five months after the coronavirus epidemic forced the evacuation of some 1,300 U.S. diplomats and family members from China, Washington and Beijing remain locked in negotiations over conditions for their return, according to more than a dozen internal State Department emails seen by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.
(Production: Shubing Wang, Irene Wang) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None