The Chinese government on Thursday broke its silence over the controversial claims made by leaked United States embassy cables, describing the WikiLeaks documents as “absurd and ridiculous”.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also called on the U.S. government to “handle the relevant issue properly," when asked if China thought the content of the diplomatic cables should have been kept secret.
The leaked cables contain several embarrassing references to China’s diplomacy, from its officials describing ally North Korea as “a spoiled child” to accusations made by U.S. diplomats that top Chinese
leaders were involved in business deals in North Korea.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said on Thursday she would not comment on the cables, describing the content of the WikiLeaks website as “absurd and ridiculous”.
The Foreign Ministry had said on Tuesday it would not respond to any of the claims made by the cables, but stressed it did not want its relations with the U.S. “disturbed”.
The WikiLeaks website remains inaccessible in China, blocked by the system of Internet restrictions popularly known as the “Great Firewall”.
Asked if the Chinese government had made a decision to block the website, Ms. Jiang only said China’s administration of the Internet followed international practices and was “according to law”. China’s Internet, she added, was “open”.
