Category: International relations

Wang Yi calls for intensifying China-Russia strategic coordination

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi exchanged new year greetings with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov in a January 10 phone call. 

Wang Yi said that, as two responsible major countries, China and Russia should strengthen strategic communication, build more strategic consensuses and carry out more strategic cooperation on the future of humanity and the world.

In the past year, under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been running on high gear, he said, adding that through high-quality strategic coordination, the two sides have not only well managed the affairs of their respective countries, but also played mainstay roles in the international arena and maintained global strategic stability.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia and the commencement of the China-Russia Years of Culture, Wang said the two sides should, in accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state, hold celebration activities, intensify high-level exchanges, promote the in-depth development of bilateral practical cooperation, advance people-to-people exchanges in various fields, and further consolidate the public support and social foundation for bilateral relations.

The People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949. The next day, the Soviet Union became the first country to recognise the new China and establish diplomatic relations with it. 

Wang added that China firmly believes that Russia will be able to successfully complete its important domestic political agenda, and maintain national stability and development. Russia is scheduled to hold its presidential election, March 15-17, in which President Putin is widely expected to be re-elected.

Lavrov said that Russia is willing to work with China to promote BRICS cooperation to achieve greater results, and strengthen communication and coordination on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East. Wang responded that both China and Russia should continue to beef up communication and coordination, and urge for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, ensure smooth delivery of humanitarian relief, and make joint efforts for restarting the two-state solution.

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — As two responsible major countries, China and Russia should strengthen strategic communication, build more strategic consensuses and carry out more strategic cooperation on the future of mankind and the world, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Wednesday.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which they exchanged New Year greetings.

In the past year, under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been running on high gear, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Through high-quality strategic coordination, the two sides have not only well managed the affairs of their respective countries, but also played mainstay roles in the international arena and maintained global strategic stability, Wang said.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia and the commencement of the China-Russia Years of Culture, Wang said the two sides should, in accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state, hold celebration activities, intensify high-level exchanges, promote the in-depth development of bilateral practical cooperation, advance people-to-people exchanges in various fields, and further consolidate the public support and social foundation for bilateral relations.

China firmly believes that Russia will be able to successfully complete its important domestic political agenda, and maintain national stability and development, Wang said.

At the recent Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs, President Xi comprehensively reviewed China’s major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era, made strategic plans for the next steps, particularly elucidating the profound connotations of the scientific system of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and advocated an equal and orderly multipolar world, as well as an inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, which conforms to the trend of development and progress of the times and resonates with the common aspirations of most countries, Wang said.

Noting that Russia-China relations have yielded fruitful results in 2023, Lavrov said that in the new year, Russia stands ready to work with China to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen bilateral cooperation in such areas as economy, trade, and investment, deepen people-to-people exchanges in the fields of sports and culture, hold successful China-Russia Year of Culture, advance communication and coordination in international affairs, and join hands to push for new achievements in bilateral relations.

Russia firmly adheres to the one-China principle, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on BRICS cooperation and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Lavrov said Russia is willing to work with China to promote BRICS cooperation to achieve greater results, and strengthen communication and coordination on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East.

Wang said China fully supports Russia, which assumes BRICS chairmanship this year, in hosting a successful BRICS summit, and stands ready to make joint efforts with Russia to enhance the international influence of BRICS and lift BRICS cooperation to a new level.

Both China and Russia should continue to beef up communication and coordination, and urge for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, ensure smooth delivery of humanitarian relief, and make joint efforts for restarting the two-state solution.

They also discussed other international and regional issues of common concern. 

China puts forward four-point proposal for ending Gaza conflict

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi began a visit to Africa on January 13, visiting Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire till January 18. This marks the 34th consecutive year that a Chinese foreign minister makes Africa the first destination for his overseas visits. Wang Yi’s itinerary this time also takes him to Brazil and Jamaica, January 18-22.

On January 14, Wang Yi met in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, where he stressed the importance of implementing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

For his part, President Sisi congratulated China on its great development achievements under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and its increasingly important role in international affairs. China, he said, is a great country, and no country or force can stop China’s progress.

Expressing his gratitude to China for its strong support for Egypt’s economic and social development, Sisi said that the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by Egypt and China has achieved remarkable results.

He also thanked Chinese enterprises for their “important contribution” to Egypt’s national construction and economic development and welcomed more Chinese investments in Egypt.

Noting that Egypt is an important Arab, African, Islamic, and developing country, Wang once again congratulated Egypt on becoming a new member of the BRICS. China, he added, is willing to work with Egypt to promote a more equal and orderly multipolarisation as well as a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, and jointly build a community of shared future for humanity.

The same day, Wang also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Shoukry said that Egypt is proud of being the first Arab and African country to have forged diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, and it is a great pleasure to make Egypt the first stop of the Chinese foreign minister’s first visit abroad again in a new year, which demonstrates the solid and profound friendship between Egypt and China.

Egypt adheres to the one-China principle, unswervingly supports China in safeguarding national unity, stability and development, as well as regarding China’s legitimate position on issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

Wang noted that the China-Egypt friendship has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and set a model for South-South cooperation. 

Both sides, he continued, should promote cooperation in various fields, including new energy, aerospace, agricultural science and technology, digital economy, artificial intelligence, and medical and health care. China encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Egypt, more Chinese citizens to visit Egypt, and stands ready to import more high-quality products from Egypt.

He pointed out that both China and Egypt, as representatives of major developing countries and emerging forces, pursue independent foreign policies and support genuine multilateralism. In a turbulent and intertwined world, China and Egypt are important factors for maintaining strategic stability. China is ready to work with Egypt to support an equal and orderly multipolar world and economic globalisation that benefits all, promote the development of global governance in a more just and reasonable direction, and safeguard the common interests and legitimate rights of developing countries.

In a joint press conference of the two foreign ministers, Wang Yi called for the convening of a more comprehensive, authoritative, and effective international peace conference to formulate a road map for implementing the two-state solution to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He also put forward a four-point proposal for resolving the conflict in Gaza.

First, the overriding priority now is to end the Gaza conflict as soon as possible. The international community must take immediate action and focus all efforts on achieving a ceasefire, protecting the safety of civilians, and avoiding the loss of more lives.

Second, it is a moral responsibility to ensure the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. It is necessary to establish a humanitarian relief mechanism as soon as possible to ensure the rapid, safe, barrier-free and sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. China has decided to provide its third batch of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Third, the will of the Palestinian people must be fully respected regarding the future arrangements of Gaza. “The Palestinians governing Palestine” is the basic principle for discussing the future of Gaza. Strengthening the power of the Palestinian Authority and supporting Palestine’s internal reconciliation is the realistic approach to ensuring “the Palestinians governing Palestine” principle.

Fourth, the essence of settling the Palestinian issue is to correct historical injustice. Justice must be returned to the Palestinian people as soon as possible, and a political settlement must be achieved in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative by establishing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Wang also noted that Egypt is a major Arab, African, Islamic, and developing country. This year, China will host the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and the new session of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. China looks forward to working with Egypt to lead China-Arab States and China-Africa collective cooperation to a new level, and to build a model of high-quality South-South cooperation.

The Chinese Foreign Minister also met in Cairo with the League of Arab States Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The Arab League has become the first regional organisation to sign a joint statement with China aimed at further implementing the Global Civilisation Initiative, Wang noted, adding that China is willing to work with the Arab side to push for new progress in China-Arab practical cooperation.

He said that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and that over the past two decades, the forum has made important contributions to promoting the development of China-Arab relations and has become a “prestige brand” for China-Arab collective cooperation.

Gheit said that the Arab League firmly adheres to the one-China principle and “one country, two systems,” opposes using double standards on issues related to human rights and Xinjiang and stands against interference in China’s internal affairs.

“We deeply appreciate China for upholding justice on the Palestinian question, and for its important contributions to ceasefire, an end to violence, de-escalation and the protection of civilians. We believe that China will continue to play an indispensable role,” he added.

China issued joint statements with both Egypt and the League of Arab States on the question of Palestine.

The joint statement with Egypt demanded an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and  opposed and condemned all violations of international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as of international human rights law, including the forced individual and collective transfers and forcible transfers of the Palestinian population from their land.

That with the League of Arab States demanded that: “The UN Security Council should heed the voices of Arab and Islamic countries and other countries that oppose Israel’s continued war against civilians in Gaza and take binding measures to ensure that international security and peace are properly assured,” adding that: “Any arrangement concerning the future and destiny of Palestine should follow the principle of ‘Palestinians governing Palestine’. Efforts should be made to achieve intra-Palestinian reconciliation and the support of both China and Algeria for an inclusive national dialogue with the participation of all Palestinian factions should be underlined in order to achieve the above-mentioned goals.”

The two sides also expressed “deep concern over the recent escalation of the situation in the Red Sea and stressed the need to respect Yemen’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, while ensuring the safety of international commercial routes in the Red Sea.”

“The Arab side highly appreciates China’s extensive efforts to calm the conflict in Gaza, achieve a ceasefire and support the just cause of the Palestinian people, and appreciates China’s Position Paper on the Settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. The two sides are willing to continue to strengthen communication and coordination, make unremitting efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and end the grave humanitarian crisis suffered by more than two million Palestinian people, and work to end the occupation and promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question.”

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The two joint statements have been machine translated and lightly edited by us.

Egyptian president, Chinese FM discuss bilateral ties, Gaza conflict

CAIRO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday, during which the two sides discussed the ways to strengthen bilateral ties and stressed the importance of implementing an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Continue reading China puts forward four-point proposal for ending Gaza conflict

Friendly exchanges between China and Vietnam get off to good start in 2024

Following President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Vietnam last December, friendly relations and exchanges between China and Vietnam have got off to a good start in 2024.

As the first senior Chinese visitor of the year, Li Shulei, Politiburo and Central Committee Secretariat member and head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi on January 11.

The Vietnamese leader spoke highly of the significance of the Chinese guest’s visit, which, he said, marked the first high-level exchange activity between the two Parties and countries in 2024. 

Congratulating the Chinese party, state and people on their achievements over the past years, he expressed his belief that under the leadership of General Secretary and President Xi, the Chinese people will successfully realise the second centenary goal, making China a “great modern socialist country” that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful, contributing even more significantly to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Li, for his part, lauded President Thuong’s suggestions about promoting cooperation between the two Parties and countries and improving the effectiveness of coordination between the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education and the CPC Central Committee’s Publicity Department.

In reply, the Vietnamese leader suggested an increase in exchanges and meetings between leaders at various levels from both Parties and countries.

Vietnam welcomes leaders from the Chinese party, state, agencies and localities to the country, he said, adding that the time-tested Vietnam-China relationship has been nurtured by generations of leaders from both parties and countries, becoming an invaluable asset that needs to be widely disseminated among officials, party members, citizens, and especially young generations in both nations.

The previous day Li had met with Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and head of its Commission for Information and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia, who  highlighted the significance of the official trip to China by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in October 2022 and the state visit to Vietnam by General Secretary Xi Jinping last December.

Li said the Chinese party and state always see Vietnam as a priority in their neighbourhood diplomacy, adding that China stands ready to join hands with Vietnam to carry out the important common understandings reached between leaders of the two parties, helping bolster the sound Vietnam-China ties in a more sustainable fashion and making contributions to regional and global peace, stability and development.

The main purpose of Li’s visit was to attend the 18th theoretical workshop of the communist parties of China and Vietnam, which was held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 12, with a focus on experiences in and solutions to enhancing the protection of the ecological environment during the process of national construction and modernisation.

Stressing the urgency of tackling environmental degradation, natural resource exhaustion, and climate change, Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, and President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, who headed the Vietnamese delegation, said the party and state of Vietnam identified critically important targets, viewpoints, and measures for promoting green growth so as to achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social equality, while practically contributing to the international community’s efforts to protect the ecological environment and respond to climate change.

For his part, Li said the protection of the ecological environment and civilisation holds special importance in China’s efforts to realise the second centenary goal. He also introduced China’s general target on environmental protection set at the 20th National Congress of the CPC, which is pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature, results obtained so far, along with experiences and measures that have proven effective.

Both officials affirmed the importance of increasing theoretical discussions between the two Parties in the new context, saying such events are occasions for the two sides to share the CPV and CPC’s theoretical achievements and practical experiences in leading and organising the implementation of guidelines and policies on the protection of the ecological environmental and civilisation.

The previous day, Li had also attended a cultural and academic exchange forum in Hanoi, with the participation of many experts, scholars, intellectuals and artists from the two countries. 

Following his visit to Vietnam, Li visited Cambodia, January 13-14, where he met with Tea Banh, vice president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and a member of the Supreme Privy Council to King Sihamoni, as well as other senior officials. 

Noting that China and Cambodia have a long and enduring friendship which remains rock-solid, Li said that China is willing to work with Cambodia to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen inter-party exchanges, share experience in state governance, deepen cultural exchanges and cooperation, and consolidate the public support for the friendship between China and Cambodia.

Expressing thanks to China for its long-standing selfless assistance to Cambodia’s economic and social development, the Cambodian side said the CPP and the government will firmly uphold a policy of friendship toward China and the one-China principle, and support the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity as well as various major initiatives proposed by China.

The following articles were originally published by the Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân and the Xinhua News Agency.

President hosts Chinese Party official

Jan 11 (Nhan Dan) — President Vo Van Thuong hosted a reception in Hanoi on January 11 for Politburo member, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee’s Secretariat and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee Li Shulei.

President Vo Van Thuong spoke highly of the significance of the Chinese guest’s visit, which marks the first high-level exchange activity between the two Parties and countries in 2024 and aims to concretise the important common perceptions reached by the two Party leaders, especially following the State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping and his spouse late last year.

Congratulating the Chinese Party, State and people on their achievements over the past years, he expressed his belief that under the leadership of General Secretary and President Xi, the Chinese people will successfully realise the “Second Centennial” goal, making China a “great modern socialist country” that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful, contributing even more significantly to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Li, for his part, lauded President Thuong’s suggestions about promoting cooperation between the two Parties and countries, and improving the effectiveness of coordination between the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education and the CPC Central Committee’s Publicity Department.

Continue reading Friendly exchanges between China and Vietnam get off to good start in 2024

Xi Jinping to Chinese diplomatic envoys: maintain commitment to diplomacy for the people

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese President, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with Chinese diplomats attending the annual work conference for envoys to foreign countries on December 29, 2023.

 Xi delivered an important speech in which he urged them to have a correct understanding of the international environment and the historical mission faced by China’s work on foreign affairs and to hold high the banner of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

He said that: “In the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has raged and spread, and external forces have continuously escalated their suppression and containment against us, posing special challenges to our diplomatic work. You all have undergone special tests. Over these years, you have stood firm in foreign lands, been on missions for our country, sacrificed personal interests for the greater good, and toiled and struggled worldwide. It is good of you to work hard.”

Xi gave four important calls as follows:

  • He urged them to keep in mind the original aspiration and mission, and be loyal to the Party.  Diplomatic envoys should undertake missions and travel to various parts of the world. No matter where they go, they must never forget why they go there. They were urged to take “diplomacy for the people” as their commitment, and pass on the CPC Central Committee’s care and concern to every overseas Chinese.
  • The envoys should strengthen their sense of responsibility and be pioneers in their endeavours. It is essential to be adept at making more friends and extending friendship. The work of winning public support should reach not only governments but also ordinary people.  
  • The envoys must have the courage and ability to carry on our fight and act as defenders of national interests. It is necessary for them to strengthen confidence and determination, be strategically sober-minded, firmly keep a worst-case scenario mindset, and, with combat preparedness and a firm determination, never yield to coercive power, so as to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests. They must strengthen strategic planning and make good use of the effective instrument of united front work. 
  • They should keep reforming themselves to act as promoters of full and rigorous Party self-governance. They must build a strong ideological defence line, constantly reflect on, alert, examine and motivate themselves so as to have firm political convictions and strictly abide by Party rules and discipline.

The following article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with Chinese diplomatic envoys attending the annual work conference for overseas envoys to foreign countries in 2023 at the Great Hall of the People on Dec 29. Xi delivered an important speech. 

Xi acknowledged the significant achievements made in China’s diplomatic work in the new era, and called on the envoys to conscientiously study and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the Central Conference on Work Related to Foreign Affairs, the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and the Thought on Diplomacy in particular. He urged them to have a correct understanding of the international environment and the historical mission faced by China’s work on foreign affairs on the new journey in the new era, to hold high the banner of building a community with a shared future for humanity, and to keep opening up new prospects for major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, was present at the meeting.

At around 11:40 a.m., Xi and others arrived at the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People amid a warm round of applause. Xi and others waved to the diplomatic envoys and had a cordial exchange with them before having a group photo taken together.

Amidst warm applause, Xi delivered an important speech. He said, “In the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has raged and spread, and external forces have continuously escalated their suppression and containment against us, posing special challenges to our diplomatic work. You all have undergone special tests. Over these years, you have stood firm in foreign lands, been on missions for our country, sacrificed personal interests for the greater good, and toiled and struggled worldwide. It is good of you to work hard.” Xi extended sincere greetings to the envoys and all those working on China’s diplomatic front on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

Continue reading Xi Jinping to Chinese diplomatic envoys: maintain commitment to diplomacy for the people

Can the rise of China reset a broken world order?

The following is the text of the speech given by Ben Chacko, Editor of the Morning Star and a member of the Friends of Socialist China advisory group, at the international symposium on China and Marxism, held in Istanbul on November 18.

Ben starts by recalling how US diplomats had briefed that they would be “encouraging China to take a more responsible approach to international affairs”, when the country’s foreign minister Wang Yi visited Washington in October. He states that he was “a bit taken aback” by this:

“As Israel rains death on Gaza, China has backed resolutions at the UN security council for a ceasefire. It also stressed the need to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. By contrast, the United States vetoed the ceasefire resolutions and has armed and facilitated Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land. When it comes to Ukraine, China again has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and peace talks, even putting out a 12-point plan that could form the basis of such talks.”

“China being ‘responsible’ over Ukraine,” Ben contends, “does not mean trying to find a peaceful solution. No, it means China obeying US policy by joining its efforts to isolate and economically punish Russia. “And China using its influence to avoid escalating the crisis in Gaza doesn’t mean trying to find a peaceful solution there either. It means helping to restrain regional countries with which China has good relations, such as Iran, to allow Israel to do whatever it likes to the Palestinians without provoking a wider war.”

Ben stresses the need to “to demolish the lies about China posing a military or security threat to the West. China, with one single military base overseas (at Djibouti to protect its Red Sea shipping from pirates), is hardly attempting to project military power worldwide like the United States (with over 800 military bases) or even the UK (with 145). When the US raises the alarm about ‘close encounters’ between its forces and those of China, these always occur just off the Chinese coast.”

However, “our second challenge must rest on the sense in which China does pose a threat – that China’s rise will end the worldwide hegemony of an imperialist bloc led by the United States. Here, we need to assess the ‘universal values’ [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken talks about and to what extent the US rhetoric about a ‘rules-based international order’ matches reality: secondly, we need to examine whether China’s rise is simply that of a new aspiring hegemon which wants to replace the US, or whether China’s values are in fact different and its rise could mean a genuine shift to a more democratic, just and peaceful model for international relations.”

Ben develops his arguments by reference to the imperialist wars of aggression against the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, along with former President Obama’s drone warfare against Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan, and highlights China’s fundamentally different approach to questions of war and peace and national sovereignty.

He also looks at questions of world trade and the global economy, contrasting the inequitable and predatory behaviour of the IMF and World Bank, and the US’s illegal deployment of unilateral sanctions, to the development of the BRICS cooperation mechanism among major emerging and developing economies, and the great success of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also refuting the ‘debt trap diplomacy’ calumny often levelled against China.

Ben further explains that, just as it is the superiority of China’s planned socialist economy that underwrites the success of the BRI, so is it the ‘secret’ behind China’s global leadership in the fight against climate change along with its development and deployment of green technology. This, he explains, is related to Xi Jinping’s shift “away from using economic growth as the main yardstick of progress, instead seeking to build an ‘ecological civilisation’ in which quality of life, something connected to clean air, clean water and green spaces, is measured by more than the accumulation of goods… China’s environmentalist lead is noteworthy not just because it shows a political will to act lacking in the West: it is at least arguable that its achievements would not be possible in capitalist countries.”

Last month when China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Washington, US diplomats briefed that they would be encouraging China to take a more responsible approach to international affairs.

China should use its influence to urge calm and de-escalation over the erupting Israeli assault on Gaza, the White House told the press. It should also do more to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine.

I was a bit taken aback by the US’s criticisms of China in this case.

As Israel rains death on Gaza, China has backed resolutions at the UN security council for a ceasefire. It also stressed the need to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. By contrast, the United States vetoed the ceasefire resolutions and has armed and facilitated Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land.

When it comes to Ukraine, China again has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and peace talks, even putting out a 12-point plan that could form the basis of such talks. It has declined to arm either side in the war, and has brought in new export restrictions to prevent its commercial exports, such as drones, being used in war zones.

The United States’ role in Ukraine has been different. Its expansion of its military alliance Nato to Russia’s borders, despite promises not to, since the late 1990s crossed multiple Russian red lines; its support for a violent coup against Ukraine’s government in 2014 helped spark the civil war in the Donbass; it dismissed out of hand Russian proposals to defuse the situation in 2021, including a suggested mutual agreement not to station nuclear missiles on third countries’ territory. Since Russia invaded in February 2022, the US has deployed special forces to Ukraine, helped sabotage peace talks according to both Turkish and Israeli politicians, and sent tens of billions’ worth of military equipment to prolong the war.

So how can the US urge China to de-escalate either conflict? The demands only make sense in the eyes of a country that judges other countries solely on how far they submit to itself. 

China being “responsible” over Ukraine does not mean trying to find a peaceful solution. No, it means China obeying US policy by joining its efforts to isolate and economically punish Russia. 

And China using its influence to avoid escalating the crisis in Gaza doesn’t mean trying to find a peaceful solution there either. It means helping to restrain regional countries with which China has good relations, such as Iran, to allow Israel to do whatever it likes to the Palestinians without provoking a wider war.

The United States does not view any country as equivalent to itself: how else could it issue stern warnings about rises in Chinese military spending, when the US spends more on its armed forces than the next 10 countries put together, and 15 times more per head than China?

Identifying hypocrisy from the US is essential when we consider China’s rise. In 2021 US national security adviser Antony Blinken told China’s then foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi that their differences rested on Washington’s determination to strengthen the “rules-based international order.” 

The next year he went further, naming China as “the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do it,” adding that “Beijing’s vision would move us away from the universal values that have sustained so much of the world’s progress over the past 75 years.”

Blinken speaks for the entire Western bloc. The line — that China poses a threat to the global order — is one we are familiar with in Britain. 

We need to challenge this narrative in two ways. The first, of course, is to demolish the lies about China posing a military or security threat to the West. 

China, with one single military base overseas (at Djibouti to protect its Red Sea shipping from pirates), is hardly attempting to project military power worldwide like the United States (with over 800 military bases) or even the UK (with 145). 

Continue reading Can the rise of China reset a broken world order?

China-Nicaragua cooperation continues to expand

We previously reported on the December 20, 2023, telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega, in which the two heads of state, marking the second anniversary of their resumption of diplomatic relations, announced their upgrading to the level of a strategic partnership.

A subsequent report from the Xinhua News Agency, noting that, with a sense of urgency, the two countries have been promoting a leap-forward in their relations, detailed how these developments have impacted on the life of the Nicaraguan people. 

Reporting that Nicaraguan Minister of Development, Industry and Trade Jesús Bermúdez is deeply impressed by China’s innovations, such as in e-payment, and is looking forward to cooperating with China in the digital economy, saying that bilateral cooperation will be particularly beneficial to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in Nicaragua, the Xinhua report added:

“Nowadays, in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, hundreds of comfortable and eco-friendly Chinese buses are running around to serve the local people. With the assistance of Chinese enterprises, hundreds of affordable housing units and their ancillary facilities are being built in the city to improve living conditions.”

Reyna Rueda, Mayor of Managua, told Xinhua that she has seen, from the changes in the city’s appearance over the past two years, how the rapid development of Nicaragua-China practical cooperation has benefited the general public.

Earlier in 2023, Mayor of Masaya, Janina Noguera signed a letter of intent to establish a sister-city relationship with Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, and visited Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, and other Chinese cities to learn the how China’s cultural industry has boosted economic development. She hopes to bring China’s successful experience to Masaya as soon as possible for the benefit of the local people.

An increasing number of Nicaraguan students are coming to China to study, among whom is Natalia Caldera. She told Xinhua that in the past year studying at Beijing Foreign Studies University, she and her Chinese classmates have deepened their understanding of each other’s cultures and seen relations between China and Nicaragua growing ever closer.

Ignacio Martinez, an expert on international affairs at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said that the upgrading of China-Nicaragua relations is another vivid example of the positive development of Latin America’s relations with China.

Multiple Latin American leaders, including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, visited China in 2023, lifting their relations to new levels. During Honduran President Xiomara Castro’s visit to China in June, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road cooperation, only a few months after the establishment of their diplomatic ties in March.

Meanwhile, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Nicaragua entered into effect on January 1, 2024. The Cuban news agency Prensa Latina reported that Minister Jesús Bermúdez explained on local television that the FTA is of great economic importance and that Nicaragua’s export capacity to China can be increased fivefold to reach nearly a billion US dollars in about five years.

The following reports were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and Prensa Latina.

China-Nicaragua cooperation eyes bigger fruits for strategic partnership

BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held a phone conversation with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, announcing the decision to elevate China-Nicaragua ties to a strategic partnership.

Since the resumption of bilateral relations two years ago, the two sides, with a sense of urgency, have been promoting a leap-forward development of China-Nicaragua relations.

Embarking on a new starting point, China and Nicaragua are expected to further deepen bilateral cooperation and strengthen friendship between their peoples, which will inject impetus into the building of a China-Latin America community with a shared future and the common development of the world.

LEAP-FORWARD DEVELOPMENT

During Wednesday’s talks, Xi said he is ready to work with Ortega to promote bilateral ties for fresh achievements, with the newly announced strategic partnership between the two countries as a new starting point, adding that he is willing to join the Nicaraguan leader in setting an example of solidarity, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results.

After the talks, the two sides issued a joint statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Nicaragua.

Continue reading China-Nicaragua cooperation continues to expand

Building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity

China held an important Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in Beijing on December 27-28, 2023. 

The conference, which featured an important speech by President Xi Jinping, highlighted ten key achievements in the country’s external affairs work in the 11 years of the new era beginning with the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012. 

On the basis of this valuable experience, the meeting affirmed that it is imperative to uphold principles. On major issues concerning the future of humanity and the direction of the world, China must take a clear and firm position, hold the international moral high ground, and unite and rally the overwhelming majority in our world. It is imperative to shoulder China’s responsibility as a major country. China needs to advocate the spirit of independence, champion peaceful development, and promote global stability and prosperity. “With a correct understanding of history and of the big picture, we must navigate the prevailing trends, adopt a coordinated approach, and seize the initiative. It is imperative to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground. We need to follow the fine tradition and fundamental direction of China’s diplomacy, and at the same time work progressively for innovation in both theory and practice. It is imperative to carry forward our fighting spirit. We must reject all acts of power politics and bullying, and vigorously defend our national interests and dignity.”

It was noted at the conference that great transformation is accelerating across the world. Changes of the world, of our times, and of historical significance are unfolding like never before, and the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. Yet the overall direction of human development and progress will not change, the overall dynamics of world history moving forward amid twists and turns will not change, and the overall trend toward a shared future for the international community will not change.

The conference highlighted that, looking ahead, China faces new strategic opportunities in its development.  “We will explore new frontiers in China’s diplomatic theory and practice, foster new dynamics in the relations between China and the world, and raise China’s international influence, appeal and power to shape events to a new level.”

It was pointed out that building a community with a shared future for humanity is the core tenet of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy. It is how China proposes to solve the questions of what kind of world to build and how to build it, based on a deepening understanding of the laws governing the development of human society. It reflects the Chinese communists’ worldview, perception of order, and values, accords with the common aspiration of people in all countries, and points the direction for the progress of world civilisations. 

Since the dawn of this new era, building a community with a shared future for humanity has developed from a Chinese initiative to an international consensus, from a promising vision to substantive actions, and from a conceptual proposition to a scientific system. It has served as a glorious banner leading the progress of the times. In summary, in building a community with a shared future for humanity, the goal is to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity, the pathway is promoting global governance that features extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, the guiding principle is to apply the common values of humanity, the basic underpinning lies in building a new type of international relations, the strategic guidance comes from the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative, and the platform for action is high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

It was pointed out that given the series of major issues and challenges facing the world today, China calls for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation. An equal and orderly multipolar world is one in which all countries, regardless of size, are treated as equals, hegemonism and power politics are rejected, and democracy is truly promoted in international relations.

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — The Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the conference and delivered an important address.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, and Vice President Han Zheng attended the conference.

In his important address, Xi presented a systematic review of the historic achievements and valuable experience of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era, gave a profound exposition on the international environment and historical mission of China’s external work on the new journey, and made comprehensive plans for China’s external work for the present and coming periods. Presiding over the conference, Li Qiang emphasized the importance of ensuring sound external work on the new journey under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, and set out requirements for studying and implementing the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important address.

It was made clear at the conference that since the 18th CPC National Congress, historic achievements have been secured and historic changes have taken place in China’s external work on the great journey of advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. First, we have established and developed Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, opening up new vistas in the theory and practice of China’s diplomacy and providing the fundamental guideline for advancing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Second, we have showcased distinct Chinese characteristics, style and ethos in our diplomacy, and established the image of a confident, self-reliant, open and inclusive major country with a global vision. Third, we have advocated the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, pointing the right direction for human society leading to common development, lasting peace and security, and mutual learning between civilizations. Fourth, we have followed the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, and played an increasingly important and constructive role in international affairs. Fifth, we have taken a holistic approach to our relations with all parties, with a view to fostering major-country dynamics featuring peaceful coexistence, overall stability and balanced development. Sixth, we have expanded a comprehensive strategic layout, and formed a wide-ranging, high-quality global network of partnerships. Seventh, we have advanced high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and established the world’s most broad-based and largest platform for international cooperation. Eighth, we have worked to both pursue development and safeguard security, and effectively upheld China’s sovereignty, security and development interests with a firm will and an indomitable fighting spirit. Ninth, we have taken an active part in global governance, and shown the way in reforming the international system and order. Tenth, we have strengthened the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and brought about greater coordination in China’s external work.

Continue reading Building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity

2024 designated as China-DPRK Friendship Year

China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have declared 2024 as the China-DPRK Friendship Year. The move was jointly announced in an exchange of New Year greetings messages between Chinese President Xi Jinping and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un. The only similar exchange of new year messages reported by China’s Xinhua News Agency was one between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and the DPRK are friendly neighbours connected by mountains and rivers, saying that the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK was forged by the older generation of leaders of the two parties and two countries, cemented in the revolutionary struggle, and continuously deepened in the course of socialist construction.

In the new era, the two sides have maintained close strategic communication, deepened practical cooperation, strengthened coordination and collaboration in multilateral international affairs, pushed forward the continuous development of China-DPRK relations, safeguarded the common interests of the two countries, and maintained regional peace and stability, Xi said, adding that it is China’s unwavering policy to maintain, consolidate and develop the long-standing friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

In his message, Kim noted that 2024 is a significant year marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and China, saying that socialist construction in the two countries has presently entered a new stage of progress whilst the international situation is undergoing complex changes.

The unbreakable DPRK-China friendship, forged and consolidated in the struggle for socialism, will be fully displayed this year, he said.

Through the activities during the friendship year, the two parties and governments will further promote exchanges in all fields, including politics, economy and culture, further deepen the bonds of friendship and unity, and step-up cooperation in the joint efforts to safeguard regional and global peace and stability, thus writing a new chapter in DPRK-China relations, Kim added.

The Friendship Year is being held to mark the 75th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations. The People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949, and diplomatic relations were established with the DPRK five days later. However, the close ties between the Chinese and Korean revolutions predate their state relations. Kim Il Sung, the founding leader of the DPRK, began his revolutionary career in China as a teenager, securing vital support from Chinese comrades, and even became a cadre of the Communist Party of China. Chinese and Korean communists and patriots fought shoulder-to-shoulder until the defeat of Japanese militarism in August 1945. Then, between 1946-49, with the liberation of the northern part of the Korean peninsula, Kim Il Sung sent many thousands of Korea’s best combatants to support the liberation war in north-east China, significantly contributing to the victory of the Chinese revolution and the founding of the People’s Republic.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Xi, Kim jointly designate 2024 as China-DPRK Friendship Year

BEIJING, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s top leader Kim Jong Un on Monday jointly designated 2024 as the China-DPRK Friendship Year and launched a series of activities.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Kim, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made the announcement in their exchange of New Year greeting messages.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, saying that the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK was forged by the older generation of leaders of the two parties and two countries, cemented in the revolutionary struggle, and continuously deepened in the course of socialist construction.

In recent years, Xi said, the traditional friendly cooperation between China and the DPRK has entered a new historical period with joint efforts.

The two sides have maintained close strategic communication, deepened practical cooperation, strengthened coordination and collaboration in multilateral international affairs, pushed forward the continuous development of China-DPRK relations, safeguarded the common interests of the two countries, and maintained regional peace and stability, Xi added.

Under the new situation in the new era, the CPC and the Chinese government have always viewed China-DPRK relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and it is China’s unwavering policy to maintain, consolidate and develop the long-standing friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries, Xi said.

China is ready to work with the DPRK to take the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and the China-DPRK Friendship Year as an opportunity to carry forward the long-standing friendship, deepen strategic mutual trust, enhance exchanges and cooperation, and ensure that bilateral ties move forward with the times for greater development so as to better benefit the two peoples, and continuously make new contributions to safeguarding regional peace and stability, Xi stressed.

In his message, Kim noted that 2024 is a significant year marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and China, saying that socialist construction in the two countries has at the moment entered a new stage of progress and the international situation is undergoing complex changes.

The two parties and governments have decided to designate this year as the China-DPRK Friendship Year, and further promote the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the two sides in accordance with needs of the times, which conforms to the common expectation and desire of the people of the two countries, Kim added.

The unbreakable DPRK-China friendship, forged and consolidated in the struggle for socialism, will be fully displayed this year, he said.

Through the activities during the friendship year, the two parties and governments will further promote exchanges in all fields, including politics, economy and culture, further deepen the bonds of friendship and unity, and step up cooperation in the joint efforts to safeguard regional and global peace and stability, thus writing a new chapter in DPRK-China relations, Kim said. 

Continue reading 2024 designated as China-DPRK Friendship Year

South Sudan: China supports displaced persons

China is extending humanitarian support to the impoverished nation of South Sudan as it copes with an influx of refugees and returnees resulting from the bitter civil conflict currently raging in its northern neighbour.

On December 28, 2023, the South Sudanese government reported that trucks carrying humanitarian aid donated by China to support refugees and returnees displaced from Sudan had started to arrive in the capital, Juba. Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Albino Akol Atak said: “This has been a generous donation by the government of China to the people of South Sudan.”

He added that the donation by China will be used to shelter the returnees and refugees at the transit sites and the final destinations and noted that there will be further support from the Chinese government for the displaced persons, totalling 1.4 million US dollars, which will be delivered before the end of January.

Akol expressed gratitude for the generous contribution, saying that it affirmed the true friendship between South Sudan and China.

South Sudan and China have enjoyed friendly relations since the former won its independence in July 2011. This relationship is underpinned by the close ties between the two ruling parties, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The below article was originally published by Telesur.

On Thursday, the government of South Sudan said that trucks carrying humanitarian aid donated by China to support refugees and returnees displaced from Sudan have started to arrive in Juba, South Sudan’s capital.

Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Albino Akol Atak said six trucks carrying a total of 26,145 pieces of plastic sheets arrived in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to support the returnees and refugees.

“This has been a generous donation by the government of China to the people of South Sudan and is a result of our engagement with the international community and donors for them to help the government and to support the efforts of the government in its responses to the influx of refugees and returnees that have come as a result of the conflict in Sudan,” Akol told reporters in Juba.

He said more than 460,000 people have already been displaced to South Sudan as a result of the Sudanese conflict and are in dire need of shelter, food, and medicines in the transit centers and their final destination.

Akol said the donation by China will be used to shelter the returnees and refugees at the transit sites and the final destinations.

He noted that there will be another support from the Chinese government for the displaced persons totaling 1.4 million U.S. dollars, which will be delivered before the end of January 2024.

Akol expressed gratitude for the generous contribution of the government of China, affirming the true friendship between South Sudan and China.

‘Al Aqsa Storm’ reshapes the Middle East

In the following article, which was originally published in the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune on December 29, 2023, Mushahid Hussain Syed, the Chairman of the Defence Committee in the Pakistan Senate, and a member of our Advisory Group, analyses the strategic implications for Israel and the United States, including for US policy towards China, following the launch of the ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, 2023.

According to Senator Mushahid, Israel’s and the United States’ “hubris, supreme over-confidence and carefully laid-down plans for maintaining an iniquitous status quo now lie buried under the rubble in Gaza.” He writes:

“To counter the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, the US cobbled an ‘Axis of Repression’ to maintain the regional status quo, freezing disputes like Palestine and Kashmir to combat the ‘real enemy’, China. Washington was endeavouring to connect an Israel-centred Middle East with an India-focused ‘Indo-Pacific’, to supplement and support the American-led New Cold War against China. Essentially, India is replicating Israeli policies of repression in Occupied Kashmir, with American complicity, so US regional strategy would rest on ‘twin pillars’, Israel in the Middle East and India in South Asia.”

Just a fortnight before the launch of the ‘Al Aqsa Storm’, three separate but related developments corroborated this policy:

  • On 22 September, Netanyahu proudly unfolded the map of the ‘New Middle East’ at the United Nations General Assembly, where the Palestinians were conspicuously absent.
  • On 20 September, following the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, the India-Israel Middle East-European Union Corridor (IMEC) was launched with much fanfare, touted as the West’s copycat response to China’s highly successful Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
  • In May 2023, President Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan personally took his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, to meet Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman to “advance their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world”. And on October 2, Jake Sullivan wrote in the influential Foreign Affairs magazine that “the Middle East has never been so calm before as it is today.” Five days later, ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ shattered that calm.

Senator Mushahid goes on to outline the six strategic consequences of a reshaped Middle East that have emerged as a result of ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’:

  • Israel and the United States were trying to ‘stage Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark’, in other words, build a ‘New Middle East’ minus Palestine. That policy is now in tatters: no durable peace or stability is possible in the Middle East without an independent Palestinian State.
  • A myth had been created about invincibility of the Israeli army and intelligence. Some 1,400 determined Palestinian fighters blew up that myth through ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ on October 7.
  • Israel presented itself as a safe haven, an ‘island of peace and tranquillity in a sea of a turbulent, volatile and weak Muslim World’. Now they say they have suffered the biggest casualties since the Holocaust.
  • The ‘Axis of Resistance’ led by Iran has shown itself more resilient than the ‘Axis of Repression’, as the Iran-led troika of Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis of Yemen, have tightened the tactical noose around shipping lanes, diplomacy and military strategy in the Middle East, and Tehran is now central to Middle East stability. Instead of the encirclement and containment of Iran, it is Israel that is now feeling encircled.
  • ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ was apparently celebrated in Moscow as the ‘best birthday gift’ to President Putin as the Ukraine War is now relegated to the back-burner and now the US is suddenly facing a three-front situation: Ukraine, New Cold War in Asia-Pacific against China, and the storm in the Middle East, an untenable strategic scenario for Washington policymakers.
  • ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ is giving birth to a clear, new global South-North divide. The Global South, spearheaded by China, with a supportive Russia, is presenting a strategic option, an alternative worldview, to the US-led Global North, whether it’s Gaza or Ukraine or BRI or the hegemony of the dollar. The global centre of gravity is shifting inexorably to the South, and the ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ has accentuated this divide, as evidenced in the voting at the United Nations.

Senator Mushahid also notes that: “Gaza is also the first televised genocide in history. Despite Israel’s brutal capacity to kill, the Palestinians are unwavering in their determination and willingness to resist and die for the cause of freedom. The Palestinians are winning by not losing.”

The October 7, 2023 Operation ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ launched by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied Gaza has broader strategic implications for Israel and the US, whose hubris, supreme over-confidence and carefully laid-down plans for maintaining an iniquitous status quo now lie buried under the rubble in Gaza.

To counter the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, the US cobbled an ‘Axis of Repression’ to maintain the regional status quo, freezing disputes like Palestine and Kashmir to combat the ‘real enemy’, China. Washington was endeavouring to connect an Israel-centred Middle East with an India-focused ‘Indo-Pacific’, to supplement and support the American-led New Cold War against China. Essentially, India is replicating Israeli policies of repression in Occupied Kashmir, with American complicity, so US regional strategy would rest on ‘twin pillars’, Israel in the Middle East and India in South Asia.

Just a fortnight before the launch of the ‘Al Aqsa Storm’, three separate but related developments corroborated this policy. One, on 22 September, Netanyahu proudly unfolded the map of the ‘New Middle East’ at the United Nations General Assembly, where the Palestinians were conspicuously absent. Two, on 20 September, following the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, the India-Israel Middle East European Union Corridor (IMEC) was launched with much fanfare, touted as the West’s copycat response to China’s highly successful Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). Three, in May 2023, President Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan personally took his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, to meet Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman to “advance their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world”. And on October 2, Jake Sullivan wrote in the influential Foreign Affairs magazine that “the Middle East has never been so calm before as it is today.” Five days later, ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ shattered that calm! In fact, the Biden Administration is the first US Administration in 50 years that even dispensed with the fig-leaf of initiating a ‘peace process’ for the Middle East, being content with the Israeli-propped status quo of a coercive occupation.

Continue reading ‘Al Aqsa Storm’ reshapes the Middle East

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki meets with Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs Xue Bing

The friendly relations between China and Eritrea were underlined on December 15, 2023, with a meeting in the Eritrean capital Asmara between President Isaias Afwerki and the visiting Special Envoy for Horn of Africa Affairs of China’s Foreign Ministry Xue Bing.

Xue Bing said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Eritrea. In May this year, President Isaias Afwerki paid a successful visit to China and reached a lot of common understandings with President Xi Jinping, drawing a new blueprint for the future development of bilateral relations. China is ready to work with Eritrea, taking the common understandings between the two heads of state as a guide, to strengthen the alignment of development strategies, advance the implementation of the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, and elevate bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

Isaias Afwerki said that he had paid a successful state visit to China. Eritrea greatly admires China’s tremendous achievements in development, and appreciates China’s important role in international affairs. Eritrea is ready to strengthen strategic communication and coordination with China, expand practical cooperation in various fields, and promote the building of a more equitable and reasonable international order.

Eritrea officially proclaimed its independence on May 24, 1993. Diplomatic relations with China, which had supported the Eritrean liberation struggle since its early days, were established on the same day.

The following article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On December 15, 2023, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki met with Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Xue Bing at the President’s Office in Eritrea. Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, Economic Advisor to the President and General Coordinator for China Affairs Hagos Gebrehiwet, and Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Chinese Embassy in Eritrea Dai Demao were present.

Xue Bing said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Eritrea. In May this year, Mr. President Isaias Afwerki paid a successful visit to China and reached a lot of common understandings with President Xi Jinping, drawing a new blueprint for the future development of bilateral relations. China is ready to work with Eritrea, taking the common understandings between the two heads of state as a guide, to strengthen the alignment of development strategies, advance the implementation of the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, and elevate bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

Isaias Afwerki said that he paid a state visit to China and had a successful meeting with President Xi Jinping in May this year. Eritrea greatly admires China’s tremendous achievements in development, and appreciates China’s important role in international affairs. Eritrea is ready to strengthen strategic communication and coordination with China, expand practical cooperation in various fields, and promote the building of a more equitable and reasonable international order.

China, Laos pledge enhanced anti-corruption cooperation

The close and comprehensive ties between China and its socialist neighbour, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have been reinforced with a recent visit by Khamphanh Phommathath, Politburo member of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), chairman of the Inspection Committee of the Party Central Committee and president of the State Inspection Authority.

In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, in Beijing on December 6, Li noted that China and Laos are friendly socialist neighbours that walk hand in hand, bound by the same destiny.

China, he added, supports Laos in playing a bigger role in ASEAN and in international and regional affairs, and stands ready to work with Laos to realise the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity. 

Laos will assume the rotating chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2024.

While briefing the Lao side on the CPC’s efforts to enforce strict Party governance and fight corruption comprehensively, Li said the CPC is willing to strengthen its exchanges of experience with the LPRP on improving party conduct, building a clean government and combating corruption.

Khamphanh said the LPRP cherishes its close friendship with the CPC, and that it is willing to work with the Chinese side to firmly implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries as well as promote the construction of a clean railway between Laos and China, promote the greater development of relations between the two parties and two countries, and deepen cooperation on discipline inspection, supervision and anti-corruption work.

The following article was originally carried by the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, on Wednesday held talks with Khamphanh Phommathath, Politburo member of the Party Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), chairman of the Inspection Committee of the Party Central Committee and president of the State Inspection Authority.

Li noted that China and Laos are friendly socialist neighbours that walk hand in hand, bound by the same destiny. He said that China, guided by the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, is ready to work with Laos to intensify high-level exchanges, enhance strategic communication, synergize development strategies further, and expand high-quality cooperation on the joint construction of the Belt and Road.

China supports Laos in playing a bigger role in ASEAN and in international and regional affairs, and stands ready to work with Laos to realize the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity, build the Belt and Road, and implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, Li added.

While briefing the Lao side on the CPC’s efforts to enforce strict Party governance and fight corruption comprehensively, Li said the CPC is willing to strengthen its exchanges of experience with the LPRP on improving party conduct, building a clean government and combating corruption. He said the CPC is ready to deepen communication and coordination under multilateral anti-corruption mechanisms, work with Laos to promote the construction of a clean Silk Road, cooperate in combating cross-border corruption crimes, and provide a strong guarantee to promote the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Laos.

Khamphanh said the LPRP cherishes its close friendship with the CPC, and that it is willing to work with the Chinese side to firmly implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries. He said the LPRP is ready to intensify high-level exchanges, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning related to governance experience, promote the construction of a clean railway between Laos and China, promote the greater development of relations between the two parties and two countries, and deepen cooperation on discipline inspection, supervision and anti-corruption work. 

Wang Yi holds talks with Angolan Foreign Minister Téte António

We previously reported on the visit to China by Angolan Foreign Minister Téte António in early December 2023. Further information on this visit has now been made available on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Meeting his Angolan counterpart on December 6, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Angola and is of important transitional significance. China and Angola have forged a friendship of sharing weal and woe in the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist struggle, and have pursued a path of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation on their respective journey towards development and revitalisation. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Angola relations have maintained a strong momentum of development with fruitful results in practical cooperation, which has brought tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, provided an important boost to Angola’s accelerated development and also set an example for South-South cooperation. 

Wang Yi added that China appreciates Angola’s commitment to the one-China principle and the country’s support for China in safeguarding its core interests, and China also firmly supports Angola in safeguarding sovereignty, security and development interests, and in exploring a successful development path suited to Angola’s national reality. China is ready to work with Angola to strengthen multilateral coordination, advance the mechanism building of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and make the international order more equitable and reasonable.

Téte António said that Angola and China are sincere friends and also strategic partners. Angola thanks China for providing the country with precious support in its post-war reconstruction, economic development, pandemic response, and improvement of the people’s livelihood, as well as for playing a role as a major country in safeguarding Africa’s peace and security and correcting historical injustice.  Angola stands ready to work with China to continue to enhance communication and coordination, jointly advance the building of the FOCAC, jointly safeguard the United Nations-centred international system, and build a new type of international relations.

The following article was originally carried on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On December 6, 2023, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister of Angola Téte António in Beijing.

Wang Yi said that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Angola, and is of important transitioning significance. China and Angola have forged a friendship of sharing weal and woe in the anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism struggle, and have pursued a path of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation on their respective journey towards development and revitalization. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Angola relations have maintained a strong momentum of development with fruitful results in practical cooperation, which has brought tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, provided an important boost to Angola’s accelerated development and also set an example for South-South cooperation. The two sides should follow through on the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state, and push for the development of China-Angola relations at a higher and deeper level. China is ready to share with Angola the experience of development of Chinese modernization and opportunities in the mega market, expand practical cooperation in infrastructure, digital economy, clean energy, health care and food security, among others, deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, enhance people-to-people ties, and consolidate the popular foundation of China-Angola friendship.

Wang Yi said that China appreciates Angola’s commitment to the one-China principle and the country’s support for China in safeguarding its core interests, and China also firmly supports Angola in safeguarding sovereignty, security and development interests, and in exploring a successful development path suited to Angola’s national reality. China is ready to work with Angola to strengthen multilateral coordination, advance the mechanism building of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and make the international order more equitable and reasonable.

Téte António said that Angola and China are sincere friends and also strategic partners. Under the guidance of the two heads of state, Angola-China relations have been constantly enriched, and cooperation has been increasingly deepened. Angola thanks China for providing the country with precious support in its post-war reconstruction, economic development, pandemic response and improvement of the people’s livelihood, and for playing a role as a major country in safeguarding Africa’s peace and security and correcting historical injustice. Angola will remain committed to the one-China principle, and support China in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity. Angola-China cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win, and major projects have been continuously successfully implemented, which have witnessed and promoted friendship between the two countries. Angola welcomes China’s investment and will earnestly protect the safety and security of Chinese enterprises and personnel in Angola. Angola stands ready to work with China to continue to enhance communication and coordination, jointly advance the building of the FOCAC, jointly safeguard the United Nations-centered international system, and build a new type of international relations.

Wang Yi: China-DPRK friendship is a valuable asset for both sides

Preparations were made by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year, with a Beijing visit by DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho. The relations were established on October 6, 1949, just five days after the founding of the PRC. The DPRK had been founded one year earlier. 

Meeting the DPRK visitors on December 18, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK is a valuable asset for both sides. In recent years, this traditional friendship has been further developed in the new era under the strategic guidance and personal care of the top leaders of the two countries, he added, and continued to note that  China is willing to jointly host a series of commemorative activities for the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries next year, and to promote the sustained and steady development of China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations.

Pak said it is the unswerving position of the DPRK side to continuously develop DPRK-China relations in accordance with the lofty will of the top leaders of the two countries and the requirements of the new era. Noting that the DPRK is willing to work with China to consolidate the brotherly friendship between the two countries, he added that the DPRK will continue to strengthen multilateral coordination with China so as to safeguard common interests and regional peace and stability.

At the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s regular press conference the same day, a correspondent from South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency asked spokesperson Wang Wenbin: “The Foreign Ministry put out a readout on the meeting between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the DPRK’s Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho this morning. Can you share more details about the meeting?”

Wang replied as follows: “This morning, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing met with Deputy Foreign Minister of the DPRK Pak Myong Ho who came to China for diplomatic consultations between the two countries.

“Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK were forged and fostered personally by the older generation of leaders of the two parties and two countries, and is a valuable asset for both sides. In recent years, under the strategic guidance and personal care of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, the China-DPRK traditional friendship has been further deepened in the new era. In a world fraught with change and instability, China and the DPRK have firmly supported and trusted each other, which demonstrates the strategic significance of China-DPRK friendship and cooperation. China always views its relations with the DPRK from a strategic height and long-term perspective. We would like to work with the DPRK to enhance communication and coordination, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various areas, jointly hold a number of events next year in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, and advance the sustained and steady growth of China-DPRK friendship and cooperation.

“Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho noted that it is the unswerving position of the party and government of the DPRK to continue to deepen the DPRK-China relations in line with the noble will of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries as well as the requirements of the new era. The DPRK stands ready to work with China to take the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to consolidate the brotherly friendship between the two countries and take the relations forward. The DPRK will continue to enhance coordination with China on multilateral affairs, safeguard the common interests of the two countries and contribute to peace and stability in the region.

“The two sides also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest.”

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Pak Myong Ho on Monday in Beijing.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK is a valuable asset for both sides.

In recent years, the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK has been further developed in the new era under the strategic guidance and personal care of the top leaders of the two countries, Wang noted.

China always views its relations with the DPRK from a strategic and long-term perspective, Wang said, adding that China stands ready to work with the DPRK to strengthen communication and coordination, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Wang said that China is willing to jointly host a series of commemorative activities for the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries next year, and promote the sustained and steady development of China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations.

Pak said it is the unswerving position of the DPRK side to continuously develop DPRK-China relations in accordance with the lofty will of the top leaders of the two countries and the requirements of the new era.

Noting that the DPRK is willing to work with China to consolidate the brotherly friendship between the two countries, Pak said the DPRK will continue to strengthen multilateral coordination with China to safeguard common interests and regional peace and stability. 

Wang Yi meets with Foreign Minister of Mexico Alicia Bárcena

We previously reported on the visit to China by Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena in early December 2023. Further information on this visit has now been made available on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Meeting his Mexican counterpart on December 5, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that President Xi Jinping and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held an important meeting in San Francisco, providing important strategic guidance for the development of relations between the two countries and setting out a blueprint for bilateral cooperation.

Mexico is a major Latin American country and an important emerging market with global influence. China values Mexico’s international status, is optimistic about Mexico’s development prospects, and supports Mexico in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Mexico, and relations between the two countries are at an important transitional stage. China stands ready to view and grow China-Mexico relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and to work with Mexico to jointly uphold mutual respect and treat each other as equals, so as to lift China-Mexico relations to a new level.

China and Mexico, both being major developing countries, need to strengthen multilateral coordination, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and join hands in response to global challenges. China hopes that the two sides will continue to work together to promote further development of China-Latin America relations.

Alicia Bárcena said that Mexico attaches great importance to growing relations with China and stands ready to work with China to follow through on the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco, and to push for greater development of relations between the two countries. More Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest and do business in Mexico. 

A series of important global initiatives put forth by President Xi Jinping are in alignment with many concepts proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Mexico stands ready to strengthen dialogue and communication with China. Mexico attaches great importance to China’s international status and influence and is ready to work with China to strengthen coordination and cooperation within such multilateral mechanisms as the United Nations and the Group of 20, and to continue to actively advance the building of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum.

Alicia Bárcena also thanked China for providing Mexico with strong support in response to its recent hurricane disaster and the supply of disaster relief materials. Wang Yi said that China and Mexico are friends and partners. When a friend is in need, China always lends a helping hand immediately. 

The following article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On December 5, 2023, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister of Mexico Alicia Bárcena in Beijing.

Wang Yi said that President Xi Jinping and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held an important meeting in San Francisco, providing important strategic guidance for the development of relations between the two countries and setting out a blueprint for bilateral cooperation. Mexico is a major Latin American country and an important emerging market of global influence. China values Mexico’s international status, is optimistic about Mexico’s development prospects, and supports Mexico in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Mexico, and relations between the two countries are at an important transitioning stage. China stands ready to view and grow China-Mexico relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and work with Mexico to jointly uphold mutual respect and treat each other as equals, so as to lift China-Mexico relations to a new level.

Wang Yi said that cooperation between China and Mexico has huge potential, and tremendous space for development. The two sides should advance exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy and trade as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges across the board. The Belt and Road Initiative has become the most popular international public good and largest-scale international cooperation platform, and China welcomes Mexico’s active participation in a flexible manner. The two sides can promote the alignment of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and Mexico’s development strategies, to provide Mexico’s national development with a new engine. China and Mexico, as both major developing countries, need to strengthen multilateral coordination, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and join hands in response to global challenges. China hopes that the two sides will continue to work together to promote further development of China-Latin America relations.

Alicia Bárcena said that Mexico attaches great importance to growing relations with China, and stands ready to work with China to follow through on the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco, and push for greater development of relations between the two countries. More Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest and do business in Mexico. Mexico is willing to have close exchanges at all levels and personnel exchanges, and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in such fields as economy, trade and counter-narcotics. Mexico will unswervingly adhere to the one-China principle. A series of important global initiatives put forth by President Xi Jinping are in alignment with many concepts proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Mexico stands ready to strengthen dialogue and communication with China. Mexico attaches great importance to China’s international status and influence, and stands ready to work with China to strengthen coordination and cooperation within such multilateral mechanisms as the United Nations and the Group of 20, and stands ready to continue to actively advance the building of the China-CELAC Forum.

Alicia Bárcena also thanked China for providing Mexico with strong support in response to the hurricane disaster and the procurement of disaster relief materials. Wang Yi said that China and Mexico are friends and partners. When a friend is in need, China always lends a helping hand immediately. China believes that under the leadership of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, people in the disaster-stricken area of Mexico will surely rebuild their home as soon as possible.

The two sides also had an exchange of views on such hotspot issues as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

China and Nicaragua elevate ties to a strategic partnership

China and Nicaragua have marked the second anniversary of the resumption of their diplomatic relations by upgrading them to that of a strategic partnership. 

The move was announced following a December 20 telephone call between the two heads of state, in which Xi Jinping told Daniel Ortega that he is ready to promote bilateral ties for fresh achievements with the newly announced strategic partnership between the two countries as a new starting point.

In their phone conversation, which was given considerable prominence in the Chinese media, Xi said that the political decision made by Ortega and Nicaraguan Vice President Compañera Rosario Murillo two years ago to resume diplomatic ties with China has made a significant contribution to bilateral relations, which will be remembered by history.

Since the resumption of relations, the two sides, with a sense of urgency, have promoted a leap-forward development of China-Nicaragua relations, Xi said, adding that both countries firmly support each other on issues concerning their core interests and major concerns, and have comprehensively expanded and made positive progress in practical cooperation.

Xi added that he is willing to join the Nicaraguan leader in setting an example of solidarity, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results. And he emphasised that China highly appreciates Nicaragua’s adherence to the one-China principle and its public support for China’s safeguarding of its sovereignty and territorial integrity on many occasions, adding that China is ready to be a reliable friend of Nicaragua, will continue to firmly support Nicaragua in safeguarding its national independence and national dignity, and also backs Nicaragua in rejecting external interference.

The free trade agreement between China and Nicaragua, which will come into effect on January 1, 2024, is a landmark achievement of cooperation between the two countries, Xi said, noting that both sides should take this opportunity to continuously boost the volume and raise the level of their bilateral trade.

China also stands ready to strengthen solidarity and coordination with Nicaragua in international affairs, and work with Nicaragua to oppose hegemonism and power politics, promote the development of a more just and rational international order, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.

For his part, Ortega said that China’s remarkable achievements in development under the excellent leadership of President Xi have not only lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty, but also made significant contributions to promoting world peace, and especially to sharing development achievements with people in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and improving their well-being, bringing hope, and injecting strength to the world.

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic ties between Nicaragua and China, Ortega said he is honoured to jointly announce with President Xi the establishment of the strategic partnership between the two countries, which will surely become an important milestone in the history of their relations.

Nicaragua highly values its friendly relations with its great brother China, firmly abides by the one-China principle, supports China’s grand cause of reunification, and supports global cooperation initiatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi.

Ortega also conveyed to Xi the brotherly sympathies from the Nicaraguan people over the earthquake in Gansu province, which struck on December 18.

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday he is ready to work with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to promote bilateral ties for fresh achievements with the newly announced strategic partnership between the two countries as a new starting point.

In his phone talks with Ortega, Xi pointed out that the political decision made by Ortega and Nicaraguan Vice President Companera Rosario Murillo two years ago to resume diplomatic ties with China has made significant contribution to bilateral relations, which will be remembered by history.

Since the resumption of relations, the two sides, with a sense of urgency, have promoted a leap-forward development of China-Nicaragua relations, Xi said, adding that the two sides firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, and have comprehensively expanded and made positive progress in practical cooperation.

Xi also said that he is willing to join the Nicaraguan leader in setting an example of solidarity, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results.

Xi emphasized that China highly appreciates Nicaragua’s adherence to the one-China principle and its public support for China’s safeguarding of sovereignty and territorial integrity on many occasions, adding that China is ready to be a reliable friend of Nicaragua, will continue to firmly support Nicaragua in safeguarding its national independence and national dignity, and also backs Nicaragua in rejecting external interference.

He noted China’s readiness to share its experience with Nicaragua in such fields as governance and poverty eradication, adding that he has put forward eight major steps China will take to support the joint pursuit of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and China welcomes Nicaragua’s active synergy in this regard.

The free trade agreement between China and Nicaragua, which will come into effect on Jan. 1 next year, is a landmark achievement of cooperation between the two countries, Xi said, noting that both sides should take this opportunity to continuously boost the volume and raise the level of bilateral trade.

China encourages competitive Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Nicaragua and carry out more cooperation projects that Nicaragua needs to help it achieve self-driven development, and to bring more benefits to the Nicaraguan people, said the Chinese president.

China also stands ready to strengthen solidarity and coordination with Nicaragua in international affairs, and work with Nicaragua to oppose hegemonism and power politics, promote the development of a more just and rational international order, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, Xi added.

For his part, Ortega said that China’s remarkable achievements in development under the excellent leadership of President Xi have not only lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty, but also made significant contributions to promoting world peace, and especially to sharing development achievements with people in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and improving their well-being, bringing hope and injecting strength to the world.

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic ties between Nicaragua and China, Ortega said he is honored to jointly announce with President Xi the establishment of the strategic partnership between the two countries, which will surely become an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations.

The Nicaraguan side sincerely appreciates China’s support for Nicaragua’s safeguarding of its sovereignty and independence, as well as China’s valuable assistance in Nicaragua’s economic development and improvement of people’s livelihoods, he said.

Nicaragua highly values its friendly relations with its great brother China, firmly abides by the one-China principle, supports China’s grand cause of reunification and supports global cooperation initiatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi, he said.

Nicaragua is ready to work with China to continuously deepen bilateral friendly relations, strengthen multilateral coordination, oppose external interference and power politics, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, he noted.

Ortega also conveyed to Xi the brotherly sympathies from the Nicaraguan people over the earthquake in Gansu province.

Xi expressed his gratitude and said that after the earthquake, he promptly issued instructions, urging all-out search and rescue work, and proper relocation of affected populations, and making every effort to safeguard the lives and property of the people.

Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and with the united efforts of the Chinese people, victory in the earthquake relief will be secured and people in the disaster-striken areas will undoubtedly return to normal life and rebuild their homes as soon as possible, Xi said.

After the talks, the two sides issued a joint statement on the establishment of strategic partnership between China and Nicaragua. 

How China is working for justice for Palestine

Republished below is a useful analysis by Jenny Clegg (retired academic and an activist in the anti-nuclear, peace and friendship movements, and member of the Friends of Socialist China advisory group) about China’s efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza and towards a lasting, just solution to the Palestinian question.

Jenny summarises China’s recent five-point peace proposal – which calls for a comprehensive ceasefire; the effective protection of civilians; the ensuring of humanitarian assistance; diplomatic mediation; and a political settlement with the implementation of a two-state solution – and notes that China has long seen the root cause of the problem lying in “the long delay in realising the dream of an independent state of Palestine and the failure to redress the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people.”

The article discusses the shifting geopolitical balance and how this impacts the prospects for peace in the region. While the US continues to provide unstinting support for Israel and to incorporate it into broader plans for countering China (via the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, for example), China is becoming more active in promoting a lasting peace. It played a key role in the recent Iran-Saudi rapprochement; it has good relations with the other countries of the region; and it has a decades-long history of support for Palestinian national rights.

The global balance of power is shifting, and “the locus of decision-making over world affairs is starting to slip out of the hands of the US superpower.” Jenny opines that, as such, China’s proposal is “the one viable route towards inclusive negotiations to secure justice for Palestine.”

Addressing the criticism made by some on the left regarding China’s vocal support for the two-state solution, Jenny notes that “the two-state solution is the position of the UN: it stands for Palestinian sovereignty and equality and has to be the starting point of negotiations, not just bargained away.”

This article first appeared in the Morning Star.

China’s five-point peace proposal on Israel-Palestine was launched at the UN security council to coincide with the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people on November 30.

It covers a comprehensive ceasefire; the effective protection of civilians; the ensuring of humanitarian assistance; diplomatic mediation; and a political settlement with the implementation of a two-state solution.

The initiative has been entirely passed over in the West; China on the other hand underlined its significance by sending Foreign Minister Wang Yi to chair the session and deliver the proposal.

China sees the root cause of the problem lying in “the long delay in realising the dream of an independent state of Palestine and the failure to redress the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people.”

At the same time, it has called for an international peace conference to be held as soon as possible to draw up a timetabled road map for a two-state solution.

Given that the UN, EU, US, Britain, China and Russia all claim to support a two-state solution, how hard can it be to get an agreement?

Geopolitics at work

Since taking office, Biden has sought to further secure Israel’s position as its proxy in the Middle East so as to shift US focus to the Indo-Pacific. Along with the Abraham Accords, normalising relations between Israel and regional states, he set up the I2U2 — the Middle Eastern Quad — comprising the US, Israel, India and the UAE, hyping up the Iran “threat” as part of his New cold war “democracy versus autocracy” agenda against Russia and China.

The Saudi Arabia-Iran agreement brokered by China with the UAE in March 2023 turned everything upside down. Biden then launched yet another initiative, IMEC — the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — taking Israel as the key link between India and Europe to counter China’s growing reach into the Middle East through the Belt and Road Initiative.

China’s relations with the region have grown steadily over the past two decades, replacing the EU as its main trading partner, or in Israel’s case, the second largest trading partner.

Many on the left criticise China’s purchases of military technology in particular but, for China, Israel provides a vital source of access to critical tech sectors increasingly restricted by the US and EU. These economic relations however are not stopping China’s sharp criticisms of Israel’s “collective punishment.”

Regional powers have also been looking east to the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation: Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia became dialogue partners in 2021, followed by UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait in 2022.

With the Saudi Arabia-Iran deal in place, Iran joined the SCO as a full member in July; and Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, and Egypt were accepted into the Brics in August. In haste, Biden pressed for Saudi Arabia to sign up to the Abraham Accords, pushing Palestinian concerns to the sidelines.

With the Middle East in flux and Biden overreaching, Hamas struck.

China, Palestine and the UN

Not so much a power struggle between China and the US, what is taking place is the rise of the Middle East itself: China has not picked sides, developing all-round relations rather than interfering, aiming to de-escalate tensions and so creating some space for regional states to exercise choices as to their own futures.

China has been consistent in supporting UN commitments to an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. Questioning the viability of a two-state arrangement, some on the left have favoured a single state.

The point however is that the two-state solution is the position of the UN: it stands for Palestinian sovereignty and equality and has to be the starting point of negotiations, not just bargained away.

At the same time, China also stipulates that arrangements must “respect the will and independent choice of the Palestinian people,” and must not be imposed. Similarly, China has not condemned Hamas, seeing this as for the Palestinian people to decide.

Palestine’s future is integrally intertwined with that of the UN — the organisation’s responsibility for international peace and security has been constantly undermined by the US’s use of the veto — around half of these occasions to protect Israel.

However, with the global balance of power shifting, the locus of decision-making over world affairs is starting to slip out of the hands of the US superpower. China’s peace proposal calls instead for the US to play an “active and constructive role” in Israel-Palestine.

This, it is recognised, requires patient consensus-building, regional and international, using momentum from the rise of the global South to bridge divisions and bring political pressure to bear on the US.

Consensus-building for peace

A struggle is underway now for Gaza’s future: for weeks Biden has urged Israel to focus on Plan B — to have any credibility this needs to involve some Arab states, perhaps some rehash of the Oslo Accords.

Continuing to use its veto to cover Netanyahu’s murderous rampage, the US angles not least to foment chaos and division in the region by provoking Iran into action in support of Hamas — and in this way to maintain US leverage over the situation.

The Saudi-Iranian link on the other hand has helped in bringing the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic States (OIC) together, amidst UN delays, to pursue the call for a ceasefire; the Brics, with key Middle East powers now members, also has a significant role to play.

Both groups are important to the changing world balance: the Arab-Islamic summit represents 79 countries, over half the global South; the Brics as large developing countries make up 40 per cent of the world’s population and one-third of the world GDP.

In the case of the Brics, despite India’s pro-Israel leanings, Al Jazeera reported that splits were “not glaring” at a special summit which called on “all parties to exercise maximum restraint,” and affirmed that “a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be achieved by peaceful means.”

The Arab League-OIC summit also called for a credible peace process based on the two-state solution with a specific time frame. These at least are shifts in the right direction. Acting in concert with China, these groups can give weight to the international conference proposal against US manoeuvrings.

While recognising the importance of regional powers, China’s initiative also looks to “countries with influence on parties to the conflict” to jointly “play a constructive role in de-escalating the crisis.”

This then is not about expelling the US from the Middle East but restricting its options: ending the region’s subjection to US power is not so much about severing links but rather looking both West and East towards China to steer towards a green, digitised transition.

In contrast with 2003, when the US, unable to get support from the UN, took unilateral action against Iraq, there is now no “coalition of the willing” — the US was alone in backing Israel at the security council.

With the region on the brink of wider war, an international peace agreement is all the more urgent.

It is time now for the new “ceasefire” coalitions in the West to join the call for a genuine political settlement and guard against another US-initiated “colonial” solution. Ideological canards should be set aside to support China’s proposal as the one viable route towards inclusive negotiations to secure justice for Palestine.

Malian FM: China is a reliable friend and partner of Mali

A salient feature of the international scene recently has been the revolt against French neo-colonialism, in particular, in the Sahel region of West Africa. Progressive military officers, with broad and extensive popular support, have taken power in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, with an orientation to national development and independence against imperialism. And, in order to deter the threat of external aggression, on 16 September 2023, the three countries formed the Alliance of Sahel States as a mutual defence pact, under which “any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracted parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties.”

Against this background, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop visited China in early December. The importance attached by Mali to the visit was highlighted by the fact that Diop was accompanied by several other ministers, including those of Economy and Finance and Industry and Commerce. 

The delegation met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 8 December. At the meeting, Wang remarked that the China-Mali friendship was forged by the elder generation of the leaders of both countries.

It should be noted here that Mali won its independence from French colonial rule on 20 June 1960, proclaimed itself a republic on 22 September and established diplomatic relations with China on 25 October. Mali’s first president, Modibo Keïta (1915-1977), who served as head of state from independence until he was overthrown in 1968, spending the rest of his life in prison, was one of the outstanding leaders of the African liberation struggle and was committed to Mali taking the socialist road. It is this heritage from which the current Sahelian leaders are taking inspiration, with Burkina Faso, in particular, learning from its previous outstanding leader, Thomas Sankara, and adopting a clear socialist orientation.

Wang Yi went on to note that sixty years ago, Premier Zhou Enlai visited ten African countries including Mali, opening a historical chapter of long-term friendship, solidarity, and cooperation between the two peoples. That visit, from December 1963-February 1964, ended with Zhou’s famous declaration that “Africa is ripe for revolution.”

China, Wang Yi said, fully understands and respects the independent choice of the Malian people and never interferes in other countries’ internal affairs. Noting that Mali has achieved important results in maintaining national stability and protecting the safety of its people, he expressed the belief that Mali has the wisdom and ability to solve the temporary difficulties it is currently facing, grasp the destiny of national development and progress, and achieve lasting peace and tranquility.

This is a significant statement in terms of the unfolding political dynamic in the region. China customarily refers to respecting the political developments in other countries. The addition of understanding, in the context of the ongoing attempts by some outside forces to question or undermine developments in Mali – which include insisting on the withdrawal of foreign troops – underlines China’s support and solidarity with the progressive changes currently underway in the country.

Wang Yi added that China is ready to deepen cooperation with Mali in education, training, medical care, and agriculture, among other areas, and to carry out more projects such as the “Mali Digital” project and the “Africa Solar Belt” Program, to help promote the peace and development process in Mali. And, underlining the common interest in opposing imperialist-backed ‘Islamist’ terrorist forces, he also expressed the hope that Mali can continue to take concrete and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in the country.

For his part, Abdoulaye Diop said that Mali and China enjoy a long history of friendship and share similar positions on significant issues of principle. In significant remarks that echoed those of his Chinese counterpart, he went on to note that China supports Mali in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and always listens patiently to Mali’s appeals and is a reliable friend and partner of Mali.

Mali, Diop added, adheres to independence, and abides by the one-China principle. His country hopes to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China and will make all-out efforts to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in the country. Mali also attaches great importance to a series of important initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping and looks forward to learning from China’s successful development experience, continuing to receive support and assistance from China, and deepening practical cooperation between Africa and China across the board.

The below article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On December 8, 2023, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop. Mali’s Minister of Economy and Finance and Minister of Industry and Commerce, among others, were present.

Wang Yi said that the China-Mali friendship was forged by the elder generation of the leaders of both countries. Sixty years ago, Premier Zhou Enlai visited ten African countries including Mali, opening a historical chapter of long-term friendship, solidarity and cooperation between the two peoples. China fully understands and respects the independent choice of the Malian people and never interferes in other countries’ internal affairs. Noting that Mali has achieved important results in maintaining national stability and protecting the safety of its people, Wang Yi expressed the belief that Mali has the wisdom and ability to solve temporary difficulties it is currently facing, grasp the destiny of national development and progress, and achieve lasting peace and tranquility. China is willing to work with Mali to continue to firmly support each other and jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries as well as the basic norms governing international relations.

Wang Yi said that in recent years, a number of China-Mali practical cooperation projects have been successfully implemented, bringing benefits to the Malian people. China is ready to deepen cooperation with Mali in education, training, medical care and agriculture, among others, and carry out more projects such as the “Mali Digital” project and the “Africa Solar Belt” Program, to help promote the peace and development process in Mali. Wang Yi expressed the hope that Mali can continue to take concrete and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in the country.

Wang Yi said, in response to the urgent needs of African countries, President Xi Jinping has put forward three important initiatives, namely, the Initiative on Supporting Africa’s Industrialization, the Plan for China Supporting Africa’s Agricultural Modernization, and the Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development. China is ready to work with Africa to implement these initiatives, strengthen cooperation under the mechanism of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and accelerate common development and revitalization.

Abdoulaye Diop said that Mali and China enjoy a long history of friendship and share similar positions on significant issues of principle. China supports Mali in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and always listens patiently to Mali’s appeals, and is a reliable friend and partner of Mali. Mali adheres to independence and abides by the one-China principle. Mali hopes to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China, and will make all-out efforts to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in the country. Mali attaches great importance to a series of important initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, and looks forward to learning from China’s successful development experience, continuing to receive support and assistance from China, and deepening practical cooperation between Africa and China across the board.

A new chapter in the development of bilateral relations between China and Honduras

Relations between China and the Central American nation of Honduras have been developing well since the latter’s progressive, socialist-oriented government established diplomatic relations with Beijing on 26 March 2023. This was followed by a highly successful state visit by President Xiomara Castro, June 9-14.

In the latest development, Luis Redondo, the President of the National Congress of Honduras, visited China in early December. 

Redondo met with his counterpart, Zhao Leji, Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, on December 7. 

Zhao said that the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Honduras was a major political decision of historic significance made by the two heads of state, and that it has opened a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

He expressed China’s willingness to work with Honduras to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, promote communication and cooperation in various fields, and push for the sustained and steady development of bilateral relations.

And he further noted that China highly appreciates Honduras’ firm adherence to the one-China principle and firmly supports Honduras’ efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty and independence, promote its development and improve its people’s well-being.

China welcomes Honduras to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and is willing to accelerate the synergy of development strategies and promote new achievements in practical cooperation.

Redondo said the establishment of diplomatic ties between Honduras and China was of historic significance. Honduras adheres firmly to the one-China principle, and supports and actively participates in global initiatives such as the BRI, which are significant contributions that China has made to the progress of human civilisation.

Following their talks, the two leaders signed an agreement to promote cooperation between their respective congresses.

The same day, Redondo also met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. 

Han said that relations between China and Honduras have got off to a good start, showing broad prospects for development since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

He also expressed China’s willingness to walk hand in hand with Honduras on the road towards modernisation, promote exchanges, mutual learning, solidarity and cooperation, and achieve mutual benefits and common development.

Redondo said that the establishment of diplomatic ties with China marks a historic decision by Honduras, which has a long-term perspective and is in line with the will of the people.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

China’s top legislator holds talks with Honduran national congress president

BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) — China’s top legislator Zhao Leji held talks with Luis Redondo, president of the National Congress of Honduras, in Beijing on Thursday.

Zhao, chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said that the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Honduras earlier this year was a major political decision of historic significance made by the two heads of state, and that it has opened a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Zhao expressed China’s willingness to work with Honduras to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, promote communication and cooperation in various fields, and push for the sustained and steady development of bilateral relations.

Zhao noted that China highly appreciates Honduras’ firm adherence to the one-China principle and firmly supports Honduras’ efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty and independence, promote its development and improve its people’s well-being.

China welcomes Honduras to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and is willing to accelerate the synergy of development strategies and promote new achievements in practical cooperation, Zhao said. He noted that China appreciates Honduras’ support for the global initiatives China has put forward, and hopes to strengthen coordination on multilateral occasions to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

The NPC of China is willing to facilitate dialogue and exchanges with the National Congress of Honduras, consolidate political mutual trust, and work with Honduras to safeguard the achievements of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Zhao said.

The legislatures of the two countries should carry out their duties fully, improve legal systems further to create a sound legal environment for investment, cooperation and personnel exchanges, and serve as a bridge for exchanges between communities to consolidate popular support for bilateral relations, he said.

He also noted that China is willing to increase exchanges with Honduras on governance experience, as well as on developing economy and improving people’s livelihoods.

Redondo said the establishment of diplomatic ties between Honduras and China was of historic significance.

Honduras adheres firmly to the one-China principle, and supports and actively participates in global initiatives such as the BRI, which are significant contributions that China has made to the progress of human civilization, Redondo said.

The National Congress of Honduras is willing to strengthen cooperation with the NPC of China and make contributions to the bright future of common prosperity of the two countries, he added. 

Continue reading A new chapter in the development of bilateral relations between China and Honduras

China-Angola relations continue to bring tangible benefits to both sides

Foreign Minister of Angola Tete Antonio recently paid a visit to China at the invitation of his counterpart, Wang Yi. At their meeting, Wang Yi said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Angola relations have maintained a strong momentum of development with fruitful results in practical cooperation, which has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, provided an important boost to Angola’s development and set an example for South-South cooperation.

China is willing to share with Angola its experience of development as well as opportunities in the Chinese market, expand practical cooperation on infrastructure, digital economy, clean energy, health care and food security, deepen people-to-people exchanges, and consolidate the popular foundation of China-Angola friendship, he added.
In a meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, the two countries also signed an agreement to facilitate and protect bilateral investment. The agreement 

 stipulates a dispute settlement mechanism and the investment protection obligations of the two sides and is expected to mutually enhance investor confidence on both sides and create a more stable, convenient and transparent business environment for enterprises from both countries.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Angola.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese FM holds talks with Angolan counterpart

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister of Angola Tete Antonio in Beijing on Wednesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Angola relations have maintained a strong momentum of development with fruitful results in practical cooperation, which has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, provided an important boost to Angola’s development and set an example for South-South cooperation.

China is willing to share with Angola the experience of development and opportunities in the Chinese market, expand practical cooperation on infrastructure, digital economy, clean energy, health care and food security, deepen people-to-people exchanges, and consolidate the popular foundation of China-Angola friendship, said Wang.

Wang also expressed China’s willingness to strengthen coordination on multilateral platforms with Angola, advance the mechanism building of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction.

Antonio said that Angola will stick to the one-China principle and support China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Bilateral cooperation between the two countries is mutually beneficial, Antonio said, adding that Angola welcomes Chinese investment, and is willing to continue close communication and coordination with China. 

China, Angola sign investment protection agreement

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — China and Angola on Wednesday signed an agreement in Beijing to facilitate and protect bilateral investment, according to the Ministry of Commerce of China.

The pact, signed by Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Foreign Minister of Angola Tete Antonio, is a mutually beneficial, high-quality investment agreement that stipulates a dispute settlement mechanism and the investment protection obligations of the two sides.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Angola.

The signing of the agreement is expected to enhance investor confidence on both sides and create a more stable, convenient and transparent business environment for enterprises from both countries, the ministry said.

Next, the two sides will carry out their respective domestic procedures to promote the agreement’s early entry into force, according to the ministry.