China has no intention to interfere in Australia's internal affairs: FM spokesperson

BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- China has no intention of interfering in Australia's internal affairs, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reportedly said Tuesday the country's new laws would ban foreign political donations to avoid external interference in domestic politics, citing "disturbing reports about Chinese influence."

"China always follows the principle of mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs when it develops friendly cooperation with other countries," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular news briefing.

He added that China would follow this policy in building bilateral relations with Australia.

"We have no intention of interfering in Australia's internal affairs or exercising influence in its domestic politics through political donations," Geng said.

He urged Australia to abandon prejudices and view China and bilateral relations in an objective and fair manner.

"Healthy and stable China-Australia ties serve both countries' interests. We hope the Australian side could have a clear understanding," Geng said. Enditem