Cooperation between the Slovak Republic and China is wide-ranging and doesn't hang on just one issue, according to statement issued by the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Slovak on Thursday.
Ministry spokesman Boris Gandel was responding to Beijing's opposition to the United States' decision to move three Uyghur prisoners detained at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay to Slovakia. “Our cooperation with China has much broader scope than just one issue. We consider China to be a strategic partner with whom we plan to continue to develop mutually beneficial relations in all areas,” said Gandel, downplaying any suggestion that this issue could present a major obstacle in Slovak-Chinese relations. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang said that Beijing was seeking repatriation of these men as, according to China, the men are suspected terrorists. Qin added that these men “pose a threat not only to the Chinese national safety, but also for the safety of the country that accepts them,” according to the Associated Press. The three prisoners were arrested in 2001 during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following 9/11 and were detained at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The U.S. authorities have refused to send them to China due to fears that they could be tortured.
