China is considering more direct flights to and from Latin America and the Caribbean region, and their ties are not directed against any third party and should not be subject to interference by any third party, an official with the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
The relations are "based solely on mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, without any geopolitical calculations", Zhang Run, director-general of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing.
"It is up to the people of Latin America themselves to choose the path their countries will take, and up to the Latin American countries to decide who their friend will be," Zhang said.
A year ago, the two sides jointly witnessed the launch of five programs — solidarity, development, civilization, peace and people-to-people connectivity — to build a China-LAC community with a shared future.
On Friday, to mark the first anniversary of the programs' launch, the China Public Diplomacy Association hosted a media salon in Beijing.
