Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun’s Remarks on August 14, 2026

China Daily: The U.S. State Department spokesperson issued a press statement on August 8 local time, saying that the United States rejects China's attempts to set up the national nature reserve at Huangyan Dao and deny Filipino fishermen access to their "traditional fishing ground" as reflected in the 2016 Arbitral Award. What is China's response?

Guo Jiakun: Huangyan Dao has always been China's territory. It is within China's sovereign rights to establish and administer the Huangyan Dao national nature reserve. The U.S. is in no position to point fingers, and the "South China Sea arbitral award," which is illegal, null and void, provides no solid ground for the U.S. to speak for the Philippines. China urges the U.S. to stop playing up tensions and instigating confrontation in the South China Sea, stop citing the illegal and invalid "award," and stop using maritime issues as a pretext to smear China.

China News Service: The third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) will be held in Dalian from August 17 to 28. With the meeting approaching, could you brief us on the preparations for the meeting? What does China hope to achieve through the meeting?

Guo Jiakun: As the host of APEC in 2026, China will hold the third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting and related meetings in Dalian, Liaoning Province, from August 17 to 28. This meeting will be the largest as to the number of participants and events. It will strive to achieve more outcomes across various fields and mechanisms under the APEC framework, laying the groundwork for the leaders' meeting in November.

There will be close to 130 meetings and events, including the third Senior Officials' Plenary Meeting as well as SOM's committee meetings, working group meetings, workshops and other related meetings, covering various fields such as trade, transportation, food, customs, technology, energy, health, disaster reduction and anti-corruption. It is expected to have the participation of more than 2,300 representatives from member economies of APEC, the APEC Secretariat, the APEC Business Advisory Council and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.

The host city Dalian serves as a window to learn about China's opening up in Northeast China. It boasts a robust industrial foundation, sound business environment, geographical advantages, beautiful scenery and liveable environment. We welcome friends from the media to actively report on the third Senior Officials' Meeting and related meetings, and continue following and supporting the APEC "China Year."

Yomiuri Shimbun: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday visited Etorofu Island (known as Iturup in Russia), one of four islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan (the southern Kuril Islands in Russia). Japan claims the Northern Territories as its own. What's China's comment on the visit?

Guo Jiakun: China maintains that the outcomes of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War should be earnestly respected and upheld. China urges the Japanese side to abide by the postwar international order enshrined in the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other international legal instruments.