According to Wen, despite serious representations made by the Chinese government, the Dutch government on April 16 destroyed the containers on the grounds that the products breached European Union import regulations.
According to Wen, the Chinese government had held a series of talks with the Dutch government on the issue, in which China had asked the European Commission and Holland to take into consideration international practice and return such products stored in all relevant European ports, particularly those in Rotterdam.
He said that China had warned that if Holland destroyed the products, it would not only bring heavy losses to Chinese businesses but also sabotage economic and trade relations between China and Europe, particularly China and Holland.
He stressed that China had demanded that Holland stop such destruction immediately and that Holland should be held responsible for all the consequences arising from the destruction.