BEIJING: China has strongly denounced desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and said it “opposes any form of Islamophobia and acknowledges the important contribution made by the Islamic civilisation for the world”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in a press briefing said that the faith and religious feelings of Muslims should be respected and the so-called freedom of speech should not be used as a reason to incite civilisation clash and create a confrontation, Pakistan’s official news agency reported.
Mao was responding to the Holy Quran’s desecration incident in Sweden which prompted strong criticism from the Arab and Muslim countries.
She said that China has always advocated mutual respect, inclusiveness and understanding among different civilisations, and resolutely opposed extremist acts that attack different religious beliefs and provoke a clash of civilisations.
The China-proposed global civilisation initiative calls for the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilisations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcends clashes, and inclusiveness transcends any sense of superiority, Mao noted.
China is ready to work with the international community to promote the spirit of the global civilisation initiative and take concrete actions to promote dialogue among civilisations and jointly safeguard the diversity of world civilisations, Mao said.
