China urges US to immediately cease blockade against Cuba

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that China opposed the abuse of coercive diplomacy and urged the United States to immediately cease its blockade against Cuba and remove Cuba from its unilateral list of "state sponsors of terrorism".

Mao made the remarks when asked to comment on the U.S. new visa restrictions against Cuba. Recently, the U.S. announced an expansion of visa restrictions against Cuba, alleging that Cuba's overseas medical services were suspected of "forced labor." Foreign ministers of the Caribbean community member states have recently raised concerns about U.S. policies, and multiple Caribbean countries' leaders have also criticized these measures.

Mao said according to Cuba's medical authorities, over the past six decades, Cuba had overcome its own difficulties to dispatch more than 600,000 medical professionals to over 60 countries worldwide, and they had provided medical services to over 230 million people, performed more than 17 million surgeries, and saved over 12 million lives. Cuba's overseas medical cooperation has been widely welcomed by Caribbean governments and peoples, she added.

Mao said allegations of "forced labor" had become an excuse and a tool for the U.S. to suppress dissenting voices, adding that the new restriction on Cuba represented a continuation and intensification of the six-decade-long blockade and sanctions against Cuba by the U.S.

She said China urged the U.S. to take concrete actions to improve U.S.-Cuba relations, and genuinely contribute to Caribbean nations' development.