President Fernández has made clear the Argentine government is unwilling to drop the country’s contentious claims over the Falkland Islands. In an interview with, a Chinese television station on Friday Fernández stated that his country will maintain its sovereignty claims over the islands referring to them by the Argentinian name for them – Malvinas Islas.
Fernández told China Central Television (CCTV).”We want peace, we have always been against this rupture of territorial sovereignty.
“That is why we continue to demand that the United Kingdom cease its occupation of the Malvinas Islands and we are extremely concerned that they could become a place where the South Atlantic is militarised.”
For this reason, “we are on China’s side in its claim that there is only one China”, Fernández added.
The South American leader also spoke of “enormous potential to increase trade with China”, particularly in agribusiness and mineral production.
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He said: “We have many Chinese companies in our country working in agribusiness, cereals, lithium, [and] gas, among other sectors.”
Fernández also stressed that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been “essential in making the rapprochement of our peoples a reality”.
He also thanked China for siding with Argentina in times of difficulty and insisted on the “enormous potential” for ties to “deepen”.
It comes as Argentina’s Defence Minister has called on the British Government to engage in “dialogue” over the status of the Falkland Islands.
He asked the British government to “sit down and talk once and for all about the Malvinas Islands” before warning that “the powerful should not use force to impose their interests and modify the world order.”
He added: “The task of our force is to control that buffer zone to avoid accidents. This shows we believe in international law and peaceful negotiation. We must not forget that we have part of our territory occupied.
“We have a sovereignty dispute pending resolution because one of the parties refuses to sit down and talk, showing disrespect for international law and the peaceful settlement of serious disputes.”
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega