On 8 August, during her interview with Australian's leading news magazine the Bulletin, while addressing the topics including China's domesticsituation, China-Australia relations and Taiwan issue, Madame Fu Ying, China's Ambassador to Australia took the opportunity to expound China's position and policies

     Fu Ying pointed out that since the end of the 1970s, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping who put forward a "three-step" strategic objective for China's development, China has been progressing steadily on the tract guided by the policy of "reforming and opening-up". Through more than twenty years' endeavour, China has achieved the first two steps and is striving for the third one.  Over the years, the overall national strength of China has been on the increase and Chinese people have experienced the significant improvement in their quality of life. China is now a constantly developing country with upbeat energy.  However, the outside world may still lack a good understanding of China.  A number of international mainstream media still inclined to look at China with coloured spectacles whiling turning a blind eye to the progress happening in China.  This is not beneficial to facilitating a truthful and objective observation and understanding of the changes in China.

     In relation to the China-Australia relations, Fu Ying indicated that despite the difference in beliefs, political systems, culture and customs between the two nations, the two countries have a lot of things in common which become the basis of our cooperation.  Through mutual efforts, China-Australia relations have gained momentum over the recent years.  Both countries have witnessed frequent exchange of high level visits  and the enhanced mutual trust in the political arena.  The increasing cooperation in economy and trade fields is also deepening and expanding.  The economies of China and Australia are highly complementary.  Therefore, in many fields we shall be able to complement each other to make up deficiencies.  China can learn from Australia in a wide range of fields such as mine safety and agricultural technologies.  Naturally there have also been some difficulties.  China's demand for raw materials and energy resources has been growing too fast for Australian's suppliers to catch up, which has in turn resulted in problems such as price and so on.  The task of the Chinese Embassy in Australia is to pinpoint and resolve these problems to facilitate the healthy development of bilateral relations.

     Talking about Taiwan issue, Fu Ying stressed that China adheres to One China principle as well as the policy of "One Country, Two Systems" and "Peaceful Reunification".  Although there are a great deal of difference between the mainland and Taiwan, but no one can deny the fact that both belong to the same China.  China is ready to do its utmost with the maximum sincerity to seek a peaceful resolution of Taiwan issue.  After the reunification,Taiwan shall be able to maintain its current political, social, economic and legal systems, even keep its own troops.  However, it is for sure that under no circumstances will we tolerate any "Taiwan Independence" secessionists' attempt to separate Taiwan from China.  Fu Ying reiterated that the recognition of One China principle is the foundation of China-Australia relations.  China has expressed its appreciation to Australian Government for its persisting position in One China policy over the past thirty-two years.  We hope that Australia shall realize the delicacy and complexity of Taiwan issue and continue to deal with any Taiwan-related questions with caution.

     When discussing about human rights in China, Fu Ying indicated that there is a book about the 100 years' history of China's human rights movements.  In 1949 when the New China was founded, China had been colonized for 100 years and Chinese people had been subjected to atrocities and humiliation.   Chinese people were so eager to build a strong government.  Since the founding of the new nation, in particular over the period after China's reform and opening up to the outside world, the Chinese economy has been undergoing constantly rapid growth and the living standard of Chinese people are increasingly on the rise.   In term of human rights, China has also made significant progress. The democratic rights of the citizen are fully protected and people are able to enjoy the extensive freedom of religion and speech. China now has more than 2000 magazines which covers each and every aspect of the society, providing insights into fields ranging from environmental pollution, corruption to reform in judiciary system.  In 2003, protection of human rights and private property was for the first time incorporated into the Constitution.  However, the reality remains that China is still a country burdened with huge population and a relatively weak economic base.  The lives of the majority of Chinese people are still not so well-off and there are still over 27 million population living in poverty.  Therefore, putting human rights in perspective, China shall still give its priority to vigorously developing economy and improving the living rights of its people. In the meantime, we will also continue with our political reform and strengthen the construction of democratic and legal systems.

     When addressing the questions in relation to the history of the Cultural Revolution, Fu Ying said the Cultural Revolution happened in China  is a tragedy. Both Chinese Communist Party and Chinese people have had profound reflection on it.  It is simply not objective to attribute all the responsibility to Mao Zedong.  The mistake of the Cultural Revolution was made under some specific historic background and condition.  What is more important for us today is to draw a lesson from it and prevent such things from happening again rather than seeking to complain and revenge each other.  Only Chinese people themselves have the right of judging their own matters.  Those people who do not understand the history and political reality of China are not likely to understand China.  They should not make irresponsible remarks on China.

     Fu Ying mentioned that many people outside China seems to try to understand the Cultural Revolution through eyes of some individuals living overseas who wrote about the period.  However, unfortunately these books are tinged with excessive individual colours, driven by a lot of personal feelings and commercial considerations.  Some books are full of exaggeration and false presumption while quite a number of them are merely fiction.  China has a population of 1.3 billion people.  Everyone has his or her own objectives, ambitions and perspective of observing issues.  In any case, China, as a nation, has to put the interest of the majority of people on the top.  Without in-depth and extensive investigation and research, it is hard to envisage that objective and fair works can be written if an author is preoccupied with his or her own feelings and bias.  Those people who wish to get a genuine understanding of China should have a field visit to China to see for themselves and read some objective books and material written by the domestic experts and scholars in China.
.