Category: International relations

China and Vietnam reaffirm their will to jointly strengthen the cause of socialism in the world

Chinese leader Xi Jinping began his first overseas visit of 2025 with a visit to Vietnam as the first leg of a regional tour that also took him to Malaysia and Cambodia.

Xi landed in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi at noon on April 14, for a state visit at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Luong Cuong. He was greeted on arrival by President Luong Cuong and other senior Vietnamese leaders.

Xi Jinping delivered a written statement on arrival and, on behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government, and the Chinese people, extended sincere greetings and best wishes to the brotherly CPV, the Vietnamese government and the Vietnamese people.

The Chinese leader noted that this year marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPV, the 80th anniversary of the founding of Viet Nam, and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South. China and Viet Nam are socialist neighbours connected by mountains and rivers, and a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. During the arduous years of striving for state independence and national liberation, the two countries fought side by side and supported each other, forging a profound friendship. In exploring a socialist path suitable to their respective national conditions, the two countries have learned from each other and advanced hand-in-hand, demonstrating to the world the bright prospects of the socialist system. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Viet Nam and is the China-Viet Nam Year of People-to-People Exchanges. The building of a China-Viet Nam community with a shared future is ushering in new development opportunities. Xi Jinping said he looks forward to taking this visit as an opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views with Vietnamese leaders and comrades on the overall, strategic, and directional issues concerning the relations between the two parties and countries, as well as on international and regional issues of common interest and concern, and to jointly drawing up a new blueprint for the building of a China-Viet Nam community with a shared future.

Shortly after his arrival, General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee To Lam held a grand welcome ceremony for Xi Jinping. This was followed by talks between the two communist party leaders.

Xi Jinping said that this year marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPV, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam (which is now the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam), and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and he extended warm congratulations to the Vietnamese side on behalf of the CPC and the Chinese government. China will support Viet Nam as always in advancing along the socialist path suited to its national conditions, successfully holding the 14th CPV National Congress in 2026, and marching toward the Two Centenary Goals of the CPV and the country.

President Xi noted that this year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Viet Nam diplomatic ties and the China-Viet Nam Year of People-to-People Exchanges. Over the past 75 years, no matter how the international landscape evolved, the two sides had supported each other in the struggle for national independence and liberation, advanced the cause of socialism hand in hand, and forged ahead with modernisation of the two countries, serving as a model of unity and cooperation between socialist countries. Facing a changing and turbulent world, China and Viet Nam staying committed to peaceful development and deepening friendship and cooperation has brought much-needed stability and certainty to the world. Standing on a new historical starting point, the two sides should build on past achievements and join hands to renew their long-standing friendship featuring “camaraderie plus brotherhood.” In line with the overarching goals characterised by “six mores”, namely, stronger political mutual trust, more substantive security cooperation, deeper practical cooperation, more solid popular foundation, closer coordination and collaboration on multilateral affairs, and better management and resolution of differences, the two countries should advance their comprehensive strategic cooperation with high-quality efforts, ensure steady and sustained progress in building the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future, and make new and greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

He said that building the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future carries important global significance. The two countries, both following the path of peaceful development and with their over 1.5 billion people marching toward modernisation together will provide an effective safeguard for peace and stability of the region and even the world, and give a strong boost to common development. A single small boat may not survive a ferocious storm; only by working together can we sail steadily and far.


President Xi proposed six measures to deepen the building of the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future:

  • First, elevating strategic mutual trust to a higher level. Leaders of the two Parties and two countries should visit and communicate with each other frequently like family do.
  • Second, building more robust security safeguards. The two sides should designate their “3+3” strategic dialogue on diplomacy, defence and public security as a ministerial-level mechanism to strengthen strategic coordination.
  • Third, expanding higher-quality mutually beneficial cooperation. The two sides should seize the great opportunity of faster formation of new quality productive forces in China and new types of productive forces in Viet Nam to upgrade bilateral practical cooperation. They should work to fully connect their standard-gauge railways, expressways, and smart ports as early as possible, and advance cooperation on AI, IoT and other high technologies.
  • Fourth, making the people-to-people bond more broad-based. The two sides should seize the opportunity of the China-Viet Nam Year of People-to-People Exchanges this year to hold more friendship activities that reach the communities and resonate with the public, and strengthen cooperation in tourism, culture, media, health, etc. The two countries should further tap into revolutionary resources and tell stories of friendship, and China will invite Vietnamese youths to China in the next three years on red study tours. This will help the people of the two countries, especially the younger generation, understand the great sacrifice that led to the founding of the two socialist countries and the great value of their good-neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation.
  • Fifth, carrying out closer multilateral coordination. The two sides should jointly safeguard the outcomes of the victory of the Second World War, firmly defend the UN-centreed international system and the international order based on international law, promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, and strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.
  • Sixth, engaging in more constructive maritime interactions. The two sides should implement the common understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries, properly handle maritime issues, expand maritime cooperation, make the decision to launch joint development, and work for the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

General Secretary To Lam stated that General Secretary Xi is an outstanding leader of the Chinese people and a great friend of the Vietnamese people. That General Secretary Xi chose Viet Nam as the destination of his first overseas visit this year fully reflects the importance he attaches to Viet Nam-China relations and his support for Viet Nam. This visit will surely become a new milestone in the history of friendly exchanges between the two Parties and two countries and will further advance the building of the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

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Xi Jinping: CELAC has remained committed to independence, self-reliance and strength through unity

The ninth summit meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was held in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, the country holding the organisation’s rotating presidency, on April 9, 2025.

Sending greetings to the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted that the world today is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century and that the Global South, including China as well as Latin American and Caribbean countries, is growing with a stronger momentum. CELAC has remained committed to independence, self-reliance and strength through unity, playing an important role in safeguarding regional peace and stability, promoting development and cooperation, and advancing regional integration. He sincerely wished the countries and peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean greater achievements on the path to development and revitalisation, so as to make greater contributions to enhancing the solidarity and cooperation of the Global South.

Xi added that this year, China will host the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing, and all CELAC member states are welcome to attend the meeting in China to discuss ways to foster development and promote cooperation and jointly contribute wisdom and strength to addressing global challenges, advancing global governance reform and safeguarding world peace and stability. [Xi’s reference to all member states is significant as, of the 12 states yet to establish diplomatic relations with China and still maintaining so-called “diplomatic relations” with the authorities on Taiwan island, seven are in the region, namely Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.]

The summit concluded with the adoption of the Declaration of Tegucigalpa, which was signed by 30 of the 33 member states. The right-wing regimes of Argentina and Paraguay refused to sign, reflecting their close alignment with US imperialism, while, for its part, Nicaragua declined to sign, considering it inappropriate that the document did not explicitly defend Cuba and Venezuela or clearly condemn the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Among the key points in the declaration are:

  • Highlighting Latin America and the Caribbean as “a Zone of Peace” adhering to the principles of the UN Charter, international law, democracy, multilateralism, human rights, self-determination of countries, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
  • Rejecting unilateral coercive measures, contrary to international law, including those of a commercial nature.
  • Congratulating Honduras for its role at the head of CELAC and handing over the rotating presidency to Colombia for the next year.

The full text may be found here.

In speeches at the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said: “Latin America and the Caribbean are currently facing one of the most critical moments in their history. We have come a long way to consolidate our ideals of emancipation; we have abolished slavery, and we have overcome military dictatorships. Now, our autonomy is once again at stake. The moment demands that we put our differences aside. Attempts to restore old hegemonies are looming over the region. History teaches us that trade wars have no winners.”

Incoming Chair of CELAC and President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, called on the member countries to strengthen regional unity in the face of the new US tariff policy, which will hit the region’s exports hard.

President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel observed: “The gravity of this hour of multiplied threats demands the multiplication of unitary forces. Only unity can save us. Let us not delay any longer the integration dreamed and fought for, since Bolivar until today, by the bravest sons and daughters of Our America.”

And President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum said: “I invite you to convene a Summit for the Economic Well-being of Latin America and the Caribbean to make greater regional integration a reality based on shared prosperity and respect for our sovereignties… Today more than ever is a good time to recognise that Latin America and the Caribbean require unity and solidarity among its governments and peoples, to strengthen greater regional integration, always within the framework of mutual respect and the observance of sovereignty and independence.”

Agência Brasil subsequently reported that May 12-13 were agreed as the dates for the ministerial meeting in China and that President Lula would attend. The agency further reported that Lula will travel on to China after attending the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Soviet Union’s great victory over Nazi Germany at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to be held in Moscow on May 9. It added:

“Lula’s trip to China will mark his second official visit during his third term. His first visit occurred in April 2023, followed by a reciprocal state visit from Xi Jinping in November of the same year, after the G20 Summit in Brazil. The two leaders also met again in 2023 at the BRICS Summit in South Africa.”

The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and by Peoples Dispatch and Agência Brasil.

Xi Jinping Sends Congratulatory Letter to the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the CELAC

On April 9, 2025, the 9th summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was held in Honduras, the country holding the rotating presidency. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the summit.

Xi Jinping noted that the world today is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century and that the Global South, including China as well as Latin American and Caribbean countries, is growing with a stronger momentum. CELAC has remained committed to independence, self-reliance and strength through unity, playing an important role in safeguarding regional peace and stability, promoting development and cooperation, and advancing regional integration. Xi Jinping sincerely wishes the countries and people of Latin America and the Caribbean greater achievements on the path to development and revitalization, so as to make greater contributions to enhancing the solidarity and cooperation of the Global South.

Xi Jinping stressed that the relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean states (LAC) have withstood the test of changes in the international landscape and entered a new stage marked by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and tangible benefits for the people. The two sides have continuously deepened political mutual trust, expanded practical cooperation, and enhanced people-to-people exchanges, delivering benefits to the people of both sides and setting an example for South-South cooperation. China is willing to work with countries in the region to make new progress in building a China-LAC community with a shared future. This year, China will host the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing, and all CELAC member states are welcome to attend the meeting in China to discuss ways to foster development and promote cooperation, and jointly contribute wisdom and strength to addressing global challenges, advancing global governance reform and safeguarding world peace and stability.

In the face of new geopolitical challenges, CELAC proposes greater unity

After several months of preparation and three days of intense meetings at the highest diplomatic level, the IX Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which brings together the 33 countries of the region, concluded in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on April 9.

The high-level meeting concluded with a joint agreement called the Declaration of Tegucigalpa, which was signed by 30 of the 33 member states. Argentina and Paraguay refused to sign the agreement, in line with the foreign policy of the ultra-right-wing Javier Milei and the right-wing Santiago Peña, who reject any attempt at regional unity outside the United States. 

For its part, Nicaragua opposed the signing of the document because it considered it inappropriate that it does not support the defense of Cuba and Venezuela, as well as a clear condemnation of the Palestinian genocide.

The key points of the Declaration of Tegucigalpa

 Among the most important points of the agreement are:

  • Committing to strengthening CELAC as a method for political concentration among member countries.
  • Highlighting Latin America and the Caribbean as “a Zone of Peace” adhering to the principles of the UN Charter, International Law, democracy, multilateralism, human rights, self-determination of countries, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
  • Rejecting unilateral coercive measures, contrary to international law, including those of a commercial nature.
  • To join efforts toward ensuring that someone from Latin America and the Caribbean becomes the next Secretary General of the UN.
  • Congratulating Honduras for its management at the head of CELAC and hand over the Presidency pro tempore of the organization to Colombia for one year to carry out projects related to “energy (energy transition and interconnection); human mobility; health and health self-sufficiency; environment and climate change; Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants; science, technology and innovation; connectivity and infrastructure; strengthening of trade and investment; transnational organized crime; education; gender equality; among others.”
  • Supporting Haiti and endorsing the support of each of the countries, according to their capacities to “reestablish an environment of human security” that allows for the normalization ‘“Of the political, economic, and social situation, with a comprehensive development approach.”

The ghost of Trump at the meeting

Undoubtedly, the recent tariff and immigration measures of Donald Trump’s administration marked a good part of the concerns of the presidents, foreign ministers, and prime ministers who attended Tegucigalpa. In a way, CELAC was created to find agreements outside Washington’s direct influence over the region. However, the plurality of political positions, in addition to external political influences in Latin America and the Caribbean, have not allowed the consolidation of a long-term international agenda.

Lula: “Only unity will prevent us from becoming pawns again”

However, despite the differences in political positions that often prevent reaching major agreements, according to the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the creation of CELAC “Is the most important decision of the region in 500 years… If we remain separated, the Latin American and Caribbean communities run the risk of returning to the condition of a zone of influence in a new division of the globe between superpowers. Latin America and the Caribbean must redefine their place in the emerging global order. We need a structured program of action.”

Lula also indirectly recalled that the unity of the region is imperative at a time when geopolitics is beginning to redefine itself, among other things, due to the decisions of the Trump administration: “Latin America and the Caribbean are currently facing one of the most critical moments in their history. We have come a long way to consolidate our ideals of emancipation; we have abolished slavery, and we have overcome military dictatorships. Now, our autonomy is once again at stake. The moment demands that we put our differences aside. Attempts to restore old hegemonies are looming over the region. History teaches us that trade wars have no winners.”

Petro: “The agenda of solitude has only two names – migration and blockade”

For his part, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, called on the countries to strengthen regional unity in the face of the new US tariff policy, which will hit the region’s exports hard. He also stressed that there are currently two ways of resolving conflicts at the international level: multilateralism (referred to in the final agreement) and “solitude.” 

“Today, there is a certain tendency for us to kill each other and live a century of solitude…This is done to preserve a power that no longer does humanity any good…The agenda of solitude has only two names: migration and blockade. The aid agenda is more complex and difficult, but it is much more interesting for all of us present here, representatives of our nations.”

On Trump’s migration policy and the arrival of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, Petro said: “The loneliness agenda proposes to treat the migrant as a criminal. Migrants should not arrive in chains to our land, because if we accept a single migrant in chains, not only do we go back to the time of Torrijos, but we go back to the time when the first boatloads of Africans arrived in chains.”

Díaz-Canel: “Only unity can save us”

For his part, the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said about the IX Summit of CELAC, “The gravity of this hour of multiplied threats demands the multiplication of unitary forces. Only unity can save us. Let us not delay any longer the integration dreamed and fought for, since Bolivar until today, by the bravest sons and daughters of Our America.”

Sheinbaum calls for an economic summit: “Shared prosperity and sovereignty”

Regarding the urgency of finding economic alternatives in the face of an increasingly complex world, the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, called for a meeting to discuss possible joint strategies: “I invite you to CELAC to convene a Summit for the Economic Well-being of Latin America and the Caribbean to make greater regional integration a reality based on shared prosperity and respect for our sovereignties… Today more than ever is a good time to recognize that Latin America and the Caribbean require unity and solidarity among its governments and peoples, to strengthen greater regional integration, always within the framework of mutual respect and the observance of sovereignty and independence.”

Lula to visit China in May for another meeting with Xi Jinping

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit China again in May for another meeting with President Xi Jinping. The trip will take place during the China–CELAC Summit, which brings together China and the countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. The dates—May 12 and 13—were agreed upon during the 9th CELAC Summit, held in Honduras and attended by Lula.

The trip was confirmed by the Planalto presidential palace and is expected to follow the president’s visit to Russia.

At the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, Lula will attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The event—Russia’s most important national holiday—takes place on May 9 and features a grand civic-military parade in Moscow.

International trade

The meeting between Lula and Xi Jinping will occur amid the escalation of the trade war between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies. The imposition of reciprocal tariffs, initiated by US President Donald Trump, has led to successive stock market turbulence and heightened concerns about a potential global recession.

Lula’s trip to China will mark his second official visit during his third term. His first visit occurred in April 2023, followed by a reciprocal state visit from Xi Jinping in November of the same year, after the G20 Summit in Brazil. The two leaders also met again in 2023 at the BRICS Summit in South Africa.

Chinese medical teams have been working in Mozambique for nearly 50 years

Two events on April 14 served to underline the continuing close bonds between China and the countries of southern Africa, forged during the liberation struggle against imperialism, colonialism and white racist minority rule.

Reporting from the capital Maputo, the Xinhua News Agency wrote that the 25th contingent of the Chinese medical team in Mozambique organised a large-scale free clinic at Matola Provincial Hospital, as part of a series of activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Mozambique.

The event offered consultations in gynecology, obstetrics, cardiology, urology, pain management, general surgery, orthopedics, spinal surgery, and acupuncture. Medical stations were also set up for blood pressure, glucose, and oxygen saturation checks, as well as for the distribution of basic medicines.

Luisa Panguene, national director of medical assistance at the Ministry of Health, expressed gratitude to the Chinese medical team for promoting health, well-being, and hope for Mozambican citizens.

“On behalf of the Mozambican people, I would like to thank the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese medical mission for their continued support and for the solidarity they have shown throughout these 50 years of brotherhood.”

Ma Litai, leader of the Chinese medical team, said: “We have come here with Chinese expertise, equipment, and medicine to serve the people of Mozambique. Chinese medical teams have been working in Mozambique for nearly 50 years, and we will continue to serve the health needs of the Mozambican people.”

Friendship between China and Mozambique dates to the beginning of the armed liberation struggle against Portuguese colonialism, launched by the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) on 25 September 1964, which China, along with the other socialist countries, consistently supported morally and materially. This struggle culminated in the founding of the People’s Republic of Mozambique (now the Republic of Mozambique) on 25 June 1975, with the outstanding Marxist Samora Machel becoming the country’s first President. With a revolutionary friendship already forged in battle, China and Mozambique established diplomatic relations the same day.

Also on April 14, China and Zimbabwe signed two agreements for airport infrastructure maintenance and skills development training in the transport sector in the capital Harare.

At the signing ceremony, Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Joshua Sacco said: “The signing of the two agreements is a continuation of the long-standing relationship between our two nations dating back to the days of the liberation struggle and it now shows that we are moving on to a stage where we share economic development.”

Ma Xin, Vice Governor of China’s Jiangsu Province, who was leading a provincial delegation, said that with Zimbabwe transitioning towards an industrialised economy, there is heavy demand for infrastructure building and construction, and engineering and construction companies from Jiangsu are more than willing to participate in Zimbabwe’s infrastructure construction development.

Continue reading Chinese medical teams have been working in Mozambique for nearly 50 years

Xi Jinping: China will work with ASEAN countries to combat the undercurrents of geopolitical confrontation

Immediately ahead of his recent state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, special articles by Chinese President Xi Jinping were published in the major media of the three countries.

Ahead of his visit to Malaysia, Xi reviewed China’s age-old friendship with Malaysia, as well as in more recent times:

“Over 1,300 years ago, Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing of the Tang Dynasty traveled to the Malay Peninsula on his pilgrimage voyage and produced the earliest known written account of the ancient kingdom of Kedah. More than 600 years ago, Chinese navigator and explorer Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty and his fleet called at Malacca during five of his seven historic expeditions. His visits planted seeds of peace and friendship… Some 80 years ago, when the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression reached a critical juncture, the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics from Malaysia braved immense dangers to reach China’s Yunnan Province, and helped keep the Burma Road operational, as it was a vital lifeline of China’s wartime supplies. Today this remarkable story of courage still echoes in the hearts of both peoples… Fifty-one years ago, breaking through the gloom of the Cold War, leaders of China and Malaysia made the decision to establish diplomatic relations, pioneering a groundbreaking new chapter in relations between China and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries. China and Malaysia have since respected each other’s development paths while maintaining strategic independence. We have provided mutual support on issues vital to our respective core interests and on our major concerns, setting an exemplary model for two countries to prosper together through mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Highlighting various areas of such bilateral cooperation, Xi went on to note that China and Malaysia have mutually granted visa exemption to each other’s nationals. The year 2024 saw nearly six million mutual visits between the two countries, which exceeded the pre-COVID level. “Malaysia, truly Asia,” the tourism promotional ad that highlights the unique charm of Malaysia’s culture, history and landscape, has inspired numerous Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia for leisure vacations or sightseeing. More and more Malaysian tourists are traveling to China to appreciate its historical legacy and experience its contemporary vibe. I hope our peoples will visit each other as often as family.

China and Malaysia, Xi continued, are both major developing countries in the Asia-Pacific. We are also emerging market economies and members of the Global South. China welcomes Malaysia as a BRICS partner country. Its inclusion in the organisation aligns with the historic trend of the Global South’s pursuit of solidarity-driven collective advancement and serves the common interests of developing countries. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN, and the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. As we honour these milestones, our two countries must strengthen mutual cooperation in international and regional affairs, and champion the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit. We must uphold the UN-centred international system and the international order underpinned by international law, and promote fairer and more equitable global governance. We must uphold the multilateral trading system, keep global industrial and supply chains stable, and maintain an international environment of openness and cooperation. As a community with a shared future, China and Malaysia share the smooth times and the rough, stand united in peace and crisis, and thrive and endure together.

He added: “China fully supports Malaysia in its role as the ASEAN chair for 2025 and looks forward to Malaysia serving as a stronger bridge between the two sides as the country coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. Through its modernisation, China is striving to build itself into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts. Chinese modernisation follows a path of peaceful development. China will promote global peace, development and shared prosperity with other countries through mutually beneficial cooperation. The Chinese economy is built on a solid foundation, with multiple strengths, high resilience and vast potential for growth. The core conditions supporting its long-term positive growth remain firmly in place, with the underlying upward trend unchanged. China has set its target for economic growth at around five percent for 2025. We will continue to pursue high-quality development, expand high-standard opening up, share development opportunities with other countries, and bring greater stability and certainty to the regional and global economy. Unity brings strength, and cooperation leads to mutual success. China will work with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries to combat the undercurrents of geopolitical and camp-based confrontation, as well as the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism, in keeping with the historical trend of peace and development.”

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Xi Jinping pays state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Vietnam from April 14 to 15, at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Luong Cuong. President Xi also paid state visits to Malaysia and Cambodia from April 15 to 18, at the invitation of King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim and King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia. He returned to Beijing on the afternoon of April 18.

Prior to the visits, on April 11, the Xinhua News Agency carried three articles reviewing highlights of Xi’s contributions to his country’s friendship with its three neighbours.

Beginning with Vietnam, Xinhua notes that when To Lam made his first visit to China as the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam in August 2024, he started the trip not in Beijing but in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou – a special arrangement Chinese President Xi Jinping later hailed as “quite meaningful.” It was in Guangzhou, a century earlier, that Ho Chi Minh, the late Vietnamese leader, began his revolutionary activities in China, a period of history Xi described as “a shared red memory” between the two countries’ ruling parties.

Noting that Xi’s trip this time coincides with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Vietnam, two socialist neighbours that have forged an enduring bond as “comrades and brothers.”, Xinhua wrote that, “behind the metaphors lies more than a diplomatic formality. Xi sees the enduring China-Vietnam friendship as a living cause to be carried forward.”

During a state visit to Vietnam in 2017, Xi brought along a special national gift – 19 issues of the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CPC Central Committee.

Among the newspapers were 16 yellowed copies carrying news reports on Ho Chi Minh. “These newspapers date back to Chairman Ho’s visit to China in 1955. It took us quite some effort to find them,” Xi explained. One notable edition, dated June 26, 1955, featured a full-column front-page photograph of Ho alongside Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other first-generation CPC leaders. Ho, who founded the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hong Kong and led Vietnam’s liberation, forged close personal ties with CPC leaders during his 12 years of revolutionary activities in China. “He was like a brother for Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and other Chinese leaders,” Xi wrote in a signed article published by the major Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân ahead of the visit.

Xi once shared his personal regard for Chairman Ho while speaking with Vietnamese youth. “We call him ‘Uncle Ho’,” Xi said. He noted that in the hearts of the Chinese people of his generation, Chairman Ho is remembered as the best friend of the Chinese people.

Back in 2011, Xi, then Chinese Vice President, visited Ho’s former residence to learn more about his life. Before his departure, Xi left an inscription: “The great man’s spirit shall be honored for millennia, and the China-Vietnam friendship shall endure through the ages.”

Six years later, during the 2017 state visit, Xi once again toured Chairman Ho’s former residence. At a pond near the Ban Sao Nak, the wooden house where Ho once lived and worked, Xi learned to clap his hands before feeding fish, the same practice Ho once used to draw fish closer. While there, reflecting on bilateral ties, Xi said, “We should learn from Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou and Chairman Ho, and carry forward and develop China-Vietnam friendship for the benefit of both our peoples.”

Xinhua’s article on Xi’s friendship with Malaysia recalls that in 2012, Yong June Kong, a Malaysian young man who had studied medicine in China, donated his hematopoietic stem cells to a Chinese boy suffering from leukemia, successfully saving the seven-year-old child and making himself the first foreign stem cell donor in China.

During Xi’s 2013 visit to Malaysia, the president referenced this moving episode to highlight the deep friendship between the Chinese and Malaysian people. “We will also not forget” the story, Xi said with deep emotion.

“This encouragement has strengthened my resolve to stay in China, to continue my medical career in saving lives, to do more blood donations and other charitable activities, and to become a bridge of friendship between China and Malaysia,” Yong said.

As a Malay proverb once quoted by Xi goes: “A friend who understands your tears is much more valuable than a lot of friends who only know your smile.”

Continue reading Xi Jinping pays state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia

China and Vietnam: Building on past achievements and making new advances in pursuit of shared goals

Republished below is President Xi Jinping’s signed article in Nhân Dân, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam, published to coincide with his state visit to Vietnam – President Xi’s first overseas trip of 2025, and the first stop on a Southeast Asian tour that also includes Malaysia and Cambodia.

The trip will have been planned for some time, but, as a BBC article notes, “it has taken on heightened significance in the wake of a mounting trade war between the US and China”.

In his article, Xi reiterates the firm political and historical basis for China-Vietnam friendship:

China and Viet Nam are friendly socialist neighbors sharing the same ideals and extensive strategic interests. The profound friendship between the two parties and two peoples, forged decades ago, has grown stronger as we explore a socialist path suited to our respective national conditions and advance our respective modernization drive. Building the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance serves the common interests of our two countries and is conducive to peace, stability, development and prosperity of our region and beyond. It conforms with the trend of history. And it is the choice by our peoples.

Citing the famous poetic phrase of Chairman Ho Chi Minh that “the friendship between Viet Nam and China is so profound because we are both comrades and brothers”, Xi states that the bilateral friendship is “inherited from our distinctive revolutionary traditions”.

Pioneers of Chinese and Vietnamese revolutions together explored a path to national salvation and made important contribution to the world’s victory in the struggle against colonialism and imperialism.The historical site of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League in Guangzhou and the site of the office of the League for Independence of Viet Nam in Jingxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region bear witness to the revolutionary friendship between China and Viet Nam. Chairman Ho Chi Minh joined and supported the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Yan’an, Guilin, Chongqing and Kunming . China sent military and political advisers in support of the Vietnamese people’s War Against French Occupation. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government and people gave full support for Viet Nam’s just War Against U.S. Aggression to Save the Nation.

Reviewing the progress that has been made in economic cooperation between the two countries in recent decades, Xi notes that China has been Vietnam’s biggest trading partner for over 20 years in a row; that railway connectivity and the smart port development project are being steadily advanced; and that bilateral clean energy projects have boosted Vietnam’s electricity supply and its environmental goals. “Contributing to each other’s success and pursuing common development, China and Viet Nam have set an example of solidarity and cooperation in the Global South.” The article proposes further expansion of trade and in cooperation on railways, 5G, artificial intelligence and green development.

An article in China Daily by researchers at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences observes that Chinese investments in Vietnam are “shifting toward high-tech industries such as industrial components, electronics, and automobiles”, thereby “presenting Vietnam with an opportunity to access modern technology and integrate more deeply into the global production chain.”

Xi’s article calls on China and Vietnam to deepen strategic mutual trust and advance the socialist cause; to “explore and enrich together socialist theory and practices, and promote the steady development of the two countries’ socialist cause”.

Addressing the global trade war recently launched by the US, Xi calls for China, Vietnam and the other countries of the region to enhance multilateral collaboration and promote Asia’s prosperity and revitalisation, as part of a fairer, more inclusive vision of globalisation.

China will ensure continuity and stability of its neighborhood diplomacy. We will stay committed to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. We will continue to pursue the policy of forging friendship and partnership with our neighbors. And we will steadily deepen friendly cooperation with them to advance Asia’s modernization…

We should work together with the Global South to uphold the common interests of developing countries. Trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere. Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and an open and cooperative international environment.

The article concludes: “Standing at this new starting point of history, China is ready to work with Viet Nam to build on past achievements, write a new chapter in building the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future, and contribute even more to building a community with a shared future for mankind.”

The article is reposted from Xinhua News Agency.

Late spring is full of vitality. As China and Vietnam celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, I will soon pay a state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Comrade To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Vietnamese President Comrade Luong Cuong. This will be my fourth visit to this beautiful country since I became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People’s Republic of China. I look forward to renewing friendship with Vietnamese leaders, discussing ways of boosting cooperation, and drawing up a new blueprint for the China-Vietnam community with a shared future in the new era.

China and Vietnam are friendly socialist neighbours sharing the same ideals and extensive strategic interests. The profound friendship between the two parties and two peoples, forged decades ago, has grown stronger as we explore a socialist path suited to our respective national conditions and advance our respective modernization drive. Building the China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance serves the common interests of our two countries and is conducive to peace, stability, development and prosperity in our region and beyond. It conforms with the trend of history. And it is the choice by our peoples.

The China-Vietnam community with a shared future is inherited from our distinctive revolutionary traditions. During modern times, pioneers of Chinese and Vietnamese revolutions together explored a path to national salvation and made important contribution to the Third World’s victory in the struggle against colonialism and imperialism. The historical site of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League in Guangzhou and the site of the office of the League for Independence of Vietnam in Jingxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region bear witness to the revolutionary friendship between China and Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh joined and supported the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Yan’an, Guilin, Chongqing and Kunming. China sent military and political advisers in support of the Vietnamese people’s War Against French Occupation. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government and people gave full support for Vietnam’s just War Against U.S. Aggression to Save the Nation. The well-known line: “The friendship between Vietnam and China is so profound because we are both comrades and brothers,” is etched on our shared revolutionary memory.

The China-Vietnam community with a shared future is based on strong political mutual trust. In recent years, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary To Lam and other Vietnamese leaders and I have visited each other many times, steering the course for building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future. Our two parties and two countries have kept close high-level engagement. Mechanisms such as the steering committee for bilateral cooperation, the party-to-party theoretical symposium, the border defence friendship exchange, and the conference on crime control between the two public security ministries are functioning smoothly. High-level mechanisms including the joint committee between the National People’s Congress of China and the National Assembly of Vietnam have been established. The “3+3” strategic dialogue on diplomacy, defence and public security between our two countries has been held successfully. China and Vietnam hold similar positions on many regional and international issues and have engaged in close coordination on them.

The China-Vietnam community with a shared future is rooted in our fruitful cooperation. China and Vietnam have pursued closer cooperation on industrial and supply chains amid a sluggish global economic recovery. China has been Vietnam’s biggest trading partner for over 20 years in a row, with total bilateral trade exceeding 260 billion USD in 2024. More and more quality Vietnamese agricultural products such as durian and coconut are available to Chinese consumers. Railway connectivity and the smart port development project are being steadily advanced. Solar panels, waste-to-energy plants and other bilateral clean energy projects have boosted electricity supply in Vietnam. The Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line built by a Chinese company makes public transport in Hanoi more convenient. Contributing to each other’s success and pursuing common development, China and Vietnam have set an example of solidarity and cooperation in the Global South.

The China-Vietnam community with a shared future is advanced by close people-to-people exchanges. Over the years, we have seen ever more people-to-people exchanges that foster increasingly closer ties between Chinese and Vietnamese peoples. Chinese tourists made more than 3.7 million visits to Vietnam in 2024. With the official launch of the Detian-Ban Gioc Waterfall Cross-Border Tourism Cooperation Zone and the opening of several cross-border road trip routes, visiting two countries in a single day has become possible. Chinese film and television productions and video games are popular among young Vietnamese, and more people in Vietnam are learning Chinese. Many Vietnamese songs are now on hot search lists on social media in China, and many Chinese diners relish pho and other Vietnamese delicacies.

Today, global, epoch-making and historical changes are unfolding like never before, and the world has entered a new period of turbulent transformation. Despite the headwinds of mounting unilateralism and protectionism, the Chinese economy expanded by five percent in 2024, contributing around 30 percent to the global economy. It remains a key engine of the world economy. China’s new energy sector, artificial intelligence and animated films have come into global spotlight. China will continue to provide more opportunities to the world with its high-standard opening up, and will contribute to the development of all countries with its high-quality development.

Asia represents a new elevation in global cooperation and development. At a new starting point toward revitalisation of the whole region, Asia faces both unprecedented opportunities and challenges. China will ensure continuity and stability of its neighbourhood diplomacy. We will stay committed to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. We will continue to pursue the policy of forging friendship and partnership with our neighbours. And we will steadily deepen friendly cooperation with them to advance Asia’s modernization.

China is going all out to build a great modern socialist country and achieve the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by pursuing Chinese modernization. Vietnam will usher in a new epoch of national development toward the two goals set for the centenary of the party and the country respectively. China always gives Vietnam high priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy. Our two countries should strengthen our efforts on all fronts to build the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, and contribute more to peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and the world at large.

— We should deepen strategic mutual trust and advance the socialist cause. The two sides should act on the guidance of the leaders. The China-Vietnam steering committee for bilateral cooperation should coordinate our interactions more effectively to boost party, government, military, law enforcement and security cooperation; jointly tackle external risks and challenges; and uphold political security. China is ready to enhance exchanges of governance practices with Vietnam, explore and enrich together socialist theory and practices, and promote the steady development of the two countries’ socialist cause.

— We should continue win-win cooperation and deliver more benefit to our two peoples. We should create greater synergy between our development strategies, implement well the cooperation plan between the two governments on synergizing the Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy, and build more platforms for economic and technological cooperation. China stands ready to advance cooperation with Vietnam on the three standard-gauge railways in northern Vietnam and the smart port. China welcomes more quality Vietnamese products in the Chinese market and encourages more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Vietnam. Our two countries should step up cooperation on industrial and supply chains, and expand cooperation in emerging areas such as 5G, artificial intelligence and green development to create more benefits for the two peoples.

— We should strengthen people-to-people exchanges and forge a closer bond between our peoples. This year is the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, and we should use this opportunity to promote people-to-people exchanges in diverse forms. China welcomes Vietnamese visitors to travel across China and encourages Chinese tourists to visit scenic sites in Vietnam. Our two countries should carry out more activities that will bring our two peoples together such as the friendly meeting between youth and festive events in border areas. We should further tap into our revolutionary resources and tell stories of friendship that resonate with our two peoples, so as to pass on the baton of China-Vietnam friendship from generation to generation.

— We should enhance multilateral collaboration and promote Asia’s prosperity and revitalization. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War as well as the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Our two countries should firmly uphold the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law. It is important that we pursue the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative. It is also important that we promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We should work together with the Global South to uphold the common interests of developing countries. Trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere. Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment. We should strengthen coordination in mechanisms such as East Asia cooperation and Lancang-Mekong cooperation so as to ensure more stability for a changing and turbulent world and inject more positive energy in it.

— We should properly manage differences and safeguard peace and stability in our region. The successful delimitation of our boundaries on land and in the Beibu Gulf demonstrates that with vision, we are fully capable of properly settling maritime issues through consultation and negotiation. The two sides should implement the common understanding reached between the leaders of the two parties and the two countries. We should make good use of the maritime negotiation mechanism so as to properly manage maritime differences, expand maritime cooperation, and build up conditions for the final resolution of the disputes. We should fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and actively advance the consultation on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. We should be impervious to all interference; bridge differences and expand common ground; and make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.

Standing at this new starting point of history, China is ready to work with Vietnam to build on past achievements, write a new chapter in building the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, and contribute even more to building a community with a shared future for mankind. 

China strengthens neighbourhood ties in response to US economic coercion

The following article by Dirk Nimmegeers, which originally appeared on the China Square website, seeks to understand the rationale for the Trump administration’s seemingly bizarre tariff war, noting that it is a component of the US’s long-term strategy of containing China.

The US is using assorted means – persuasive and coercive – to win other countries to its side in its campaign of aggression against China. China meanwhile is “is forming or strengthen coalitions with continents, countries, regions and international organisations”, particularly among its Asian neighbours. “Correct relations, the strengthening of mutual trust and regular contacts between China and those neighbours, and among those same countries, are conducive to peace and prosperity.”

The article provides valuable context for President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia this week.

The article was translated into English from the original Dutch by the author.

Madness?

Most people believe President Trump’s erratic policies will harm the US’s economic interests and alienate its allies. However, it is conceivable that, as Polonius said of Hamlet, ‘though this be madness, yet there is method in’t’. In other words, that there exists a rationale for Trump’s behaviour beyond simple folly and deranged impulsiveness.

In Europe, for instance, the US president has already succeeded in getting his demands for increased financial contributions to NATO accepted by allies. His team has doubled down on distrust of China and has escalated tensions even further than team Biden. In Europe, many influential groups and individuals would rather strike a deal with Washington than cooperate with Beijing.

By means of a global import blackmail, and somewhat later granting a 90-day reprieve to all countries except China, Trump and his ministers and advisers are trying to hit the People’s Republic hard. They want to undermine China’s growth and force China to accept US trade terms. Further, their aim is to punish China for its success in building a modern economy and technology and for its refusal to bow to US rule.

Targeting China and its neighbours

Moreover, Trump and co plan to entice other countries to side with the US against China, and if that fails, to force them to do so. The US elite successfully fought the socialist countries of Europe through an ideological Cold War, imperialist warfare worldwide, fomenting divisions, and a major arms race. Today, in the renewed Cold War, Generation Trump is deploying different tactics against the world’s largest socialist country. In this, financial and economic tactics play an important role.

The Chinese government says it is not seeking a fight with the US, but is ready to take it “to the end” if Washington forces it to do so. This is not grandstanding. The People’s Republic of China has a political leadership that enjoys strong political support from the people and is proving that both with economic growth and technological innovation, it has firmly established its policies and the means to defend them. The Chinese government, under the leadership of the Communist Party, primarily represents the interests of the vast majority of Chinese citizens.

Two-track policy

In doing so, however, it also champions economic globalisation that may benefit all countries. China favours an international system monitored and protected by institutions such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or the World Health Organisation. China takes initiatives for groupings that offer the countries of the Global South in particular new development opportunities and help them to pursue an independent course. The combination of taking care of domestic interests on the one hand and concern ‘for a shared future for humanity’ on the other is reflected in an economic and a geopolitical programme. Economically, this is called a dual circulation strategy. Geopolitically, China makes the case for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for multipolarity and peace policy. Driven by President Xi Jinping, Beijing is taking global initiatives such as the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative.

To maximise the chances of success, the People’s Republic is forming or strengthen coalitions with continents, countries, regions and international organisations. Preferential countries for this are its Asian neighbours. It is quite obvious why. First of all, there is the importance of their friendship for national defence, but also for the number of people and social strata in China that live and benefit from trade. China no longer depends on imports and exports to the extent that it did at the beginning of the century; nevertheless these sectors remain essential and have a strong input in the domestic debate.

Which neighbouring countries?

China has land borders with no less than 14 states: Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). In addition, there are neighbouring countries in Asia from which the People’s Republic is only separated by maritime areas, such as the Philippines, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Japan. Some more distant countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor also belong to the Southeast Asian neighbourhood region of China.

Correct relations, the strengthening of mutual trust and regular contacts between China and those neighbours, and among those same countries, are conducive to peace and prosperity. That’s why China has resolved most border issues with its neighbouring countries.  In the region, Beijing seeks peaceful agreements between countries with divergent interests in the South China and East China Seas. A roadmap towards peaceful reunification with China’s Taiwan province is also vital for China’s territorial integrity in that context.

Needless to say, peace and prosperity are further served by China’s excellent economic and political relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The same goes for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), in which China plays a leading role as a co-founding member. Measured by GDP, RCEP is the largest free trade agreement in the world. It unites the 10 countries of ASEAN, as well as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to China itself. Cambodian expert Thong Mengdavid speaks of a “mega-trade pact, covering about 2.3 billion people, which has shown its ability to boost regional economic growth, promote trade liberalisation and foster deeper integration among members”. According to Thong, this is “proof of the power of economic integration. It proves that cooperation, not isolation, leads to prosperity.”

Two visions on international politics

Western views and approaches to global politics are based on ‘prosperity through self-interest and neo-colonialism’ and ‘peace through domination and conflict’. Trump’s Make America Great Again is currently the most extreme example of this. China refuses to submit to it and, within the framework of its socialist project, offers an attractive alternative to it.

Contradictions in neighbouring countries

Many of China’s neighbours experience contradictions between, on the one hand, supporters of closer relations with the People’s Republic and, on the other, supporters of submission to the US or a continued alliance with it. In addition, there is always a current that refuses to make a choice, but is often forced to do so by the course of history. In the Republic of Korea (South Korea), for example, the political world is torn between a Democratic Party that wants rapprochement with China and peace with North Korea, and a party of politicians who believe that the country’s interests are best served by continued obedience to the United States. In Japan, some politicians are more open to the alliance between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, while others prefer a trilateral with Beijing.

Indian ministers and other policymakers aspire to become a rival to the People’s Republic as an Asian superpower, so they are offering the West their services, and participating in projects like the India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). IMEC would like to be a rival to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Hostility with Pakistan, a prominent participant in the BRI, is one of the reasons for this. These Indian nationalists hinder their political opponents who want to go forward on the logical path of peace and progress between two Asian giant civilisations. Vietnam has a political system and economic policies closely akin to China’s, and a history of socialist brotherly relations with the People’s Republic. But even there, there are apparently groups that, for various reasons, seem to advocate accommodation with the United States, the historical imperialist enemy.

To be continued

Understandably, then, Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to ‘strengthen strategic ties with neighbouring countries’. China plans to do this ‘by taking differences into account appropriately and strengthening supply chain ties’. These remarks were made at a central working conference on diplomacy with neighbouring countries held by the CPC in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.

With the following terms China’s foreign ministry announced Xi Jinping’s trip to important neighbouring countries this week. ‘At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam to Lam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Luong Cuong, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of China Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Vietnam from 14 to 15 April. At the invitation of the King of Malaysia, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, and King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Malaysia and Cambodia from 15 to 18 April.’

We look forward to learning what opportunities the negotiators agree on for countering MAGA man Trump.

Sources: Xinhua, Min. BuZa China, Friends of Socialist China, Pascalcoppens.com, China Daily, Global Times, Unachina.org, Clingendael.org, South China Morning Post, Asia Times, Morning Star, Geopolitical Economy Report

Webinar: The Bandung spirit lives on! Unity against imperialism, and the struggle for a multipolar world

📆 Sunday 27 April 2025, 4pm Britain, 11am US Eastern, 8am US Pacific

Register on Eventbrite

Seventy years ago, the Bandung Conference brought together 29 Asian and African countries to discuss the common challenges facing the Third World. The conference was a milestone in the global struggle against colonialism and imperialism, and laid the foundations for the Non-Aligned Movement. This webinar will address the legacy of Bandung, and its relevance to the contemporary world. It will seek to find answers to questions such as:

  • Are the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, adopted at Bandung, still relevant today?
  • How can the Bandung spirit help us to build a global united front against imperialism?
  • What international organisations and movements are carrying forward the Bandung spirit?
  • Are the US and its allies still trying to divide the Global South, as they did during the Cold War?
  • How does China’s rise affect humanity’s trajectory towards multipolarity, sovereignty and socialism?

Confirmed speakers

  • Ben Norton (Founder and editor, Geopolitical Economy Report)
  • Mushahid Hussain (Pakistani senator, Chairman of the China-Pakistan Institute)
  • Tings Chak (Asia Coordinator, Tricontinental Institute)
  • Professor Isaac Saney (Cuba and Black studies specialist, Dalhousie University)
  • Dr Jenny Clegg (Author, China’s Global Strategy: Towards a Multipolar World)
  • Moderator: Professor Radhika Desai (Convenor, International Manifesto Group)

Organisers

This webinar is organised jointly by the International Manifesto Group and Friends of Socialist China.

Register on Eventbrite

Greenlandic politicians express wish to develop greater cooperation with China

With the eyes of the world focused on Greenland as the Trump administration continues with its aggressive and bullying campaign – including such high-profile stunts as the recent visit by Vice President Vance to a US base on the island after local people made it quite clear that his wife was not welcome at a traditional dog sled race – aimed at replacing Danish rule with US annexation, overriding the people’s desire for independence, leading Greenlandic politicians have expressed their wish to develop greater cooperation with China.

Reporting from the capital Nuuk on March 28, the Xinhua News Agency said that they expressed interest in deepening cooperation with China in areas such as trade, fisheries, and sustainable development while highlighting the potential for a free trade agreement between the two sides.

Vivian Motzfeldt, the incoming foreign minister of Greenland’s new autonomous government, told Xinhua that strengthening ties with China will be one of her priorities. “My trip to China in 2023 was memorable,” she said, noting that China is one of Greenland’s largest seafood markets. “China is very important to us, and we are eager to strengthen our cooperation.”

Following a general election on March 11, taking into account the critical situation facing their country, four of the five political parties that secured seats agreed to form a unity government on March 28. Together, Demokraatit, Siumut, Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), and Atassut hold 23 out of 31 seats in the Inatsisartut, Greenland’s parliament.

The above-mentioned report is one of a number that Xinhua has recently carried from Nuuk. On March 24, under the headline, ‘Feature: “We don’t want to be Americans” – Greenlanders’, Xinhua reported:

“‘That day, the entire city of Nuuk stood united!’ said Gustav Petersen, a member of Naleraq, the second-largest party in Greenland’s parliament, referring to the anti-US protest held on March 15. [Naleraq won the second largest number of seats in the election but was the only party that has declined to join the new government.]

“According to local media, more than 1,000 people participated in the protest – an impressive turnout for Nuuk, a city with a population of just 15,000. Carrying banners reading ‘We are not for sale,’ ‘Greenland for Greenlanders,’ and ‘Make America Go Away,’ demonstrators marched from the city centre to the US Consulate in Nuuk, sending a clear message of opposition to Washington’s ambitions.

“Petersen said although Greenlanders had varying political preferences during the March 11 parliamentary elections, there was one point of unanimous agreement: ‘We don’t want to be Americans! The United States cannot treat Greenland as a commodity to be bought at will.’

“The US Consulate in Nuuk… remained shuttered when Xinhua reporters visited. ‘On the day of our protest, it was the same – completely deserted,’ Petersen said.

“Standing outside the consulate, Nuuk resident Nikolaj Davidson, who works at a slaughterhouse, voiced his opposition to Trump’s proposal. ‘I don’t want to be American, and neither do my family nor friends,’ he said. ‘Almost everyone in my family disagrees with Trump. From what I know, the vast majority of Greenlanders do not want Greenland to become part of the United States. The American healthcare and welfare systems are not appealing to us.’

“Davidson said that Trump’s main motivation is Greenland’s rich natural resources. ‘Just like the US government has done before, Trump might look for various pretexts to legitimise the takeover of Greenland,’ he warned.”

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency. We also embed the video of a speech on the current situation regarding Greenland by Lotte Rørtoft Madsen, the President of Denmark’s Communist Party (KP – Kommunistisk Partis). Lotte was speaking in a March 30 webinar entitled ‘Trump’s Aggression in the Americas – the return of the Monroe Doctrine?’ organised by the International Manifesto Group. You can watch the entire discussion at https://youtube.com/live/cKdBHeyBtZU.

Greenlandic political leaders looks to enhance cooperation with China

NUUK, Greenland, March 28 (Xinhua) — Greenland’s political leaders on Friday expressed interest in deepening cooperation with China in areas such as trade, fisheries, and sustainable development while highlighting the potential for a free trade agreement between the two sides.

Vivian Motzfeldt, the incoming foreign minister of Greenland’s new autonomous government, told Xinhua that strengthening ties with China will be one of her priorities.

“My trip to China in 2023 was memorable,” she said, noting that China is one of Greenland’s largest seafood markets. “China is very important to us, and we are eager to strengthen our cooperation.”

Motzfeldt said her tasks include boosting exports, enhancing cooperation in the fisheries sector, and pursuing a free trade agreement with China.

Aqqalu Jerimiassen, chairman of the Atassut party and a member of the Greenlandic Parliament, shared similar views based on his visit to China in 2018.

“I’ve been to Beijing, Guangzhou and several other cities,” he told Xinhua. “I was very impressed during my visit to China. I was particularly interested in how we can build good cooperation with Chinese enterprises and authorities.”

On Friday, Greenland announced the formation of a new autonomous government in Nuuk, the capital. At a ceremony held at the Katuaq Cultural Center, four political parties, representing 23 of the 31 seats in Greenland’s parliament, signed a coalition agreement to establish the new autonomous government.

Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 when it became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1979, it gained home rule, expanding its autonomy, while Denmark retained control over foreign affairs and defense policy.

Jean-Claude Gakosso: China is a sincere friend and partner of the Republic of the Congo and all other African countries

On March 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso in Beijing.

The Republic of the Congo (also widely known as Congo Brazzaville) is one of China’s oldest and closest friends in Africa. At last September’s summit meeting in Beijing of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Congo assumed the rotating position of its African co-chair and Gakosso’s visit was focused on the forum’s work for 2025.

Wang Yi said China and the Republic of the Congo have always understood, trusted and supported each other, and bilateral relations have become a model of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation. Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Denis Sassou Nguesso, bilateral relations have maintained a momentum of vigorous development, which has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and played an important role in the development and prosperity of Africa.

With the support of African countries, the Republic of the Congo assumed the role of the African co-chair of the FOCAC last year. China is ready to work with the Republic of the Congo to actively implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, particularly the ten partnership actions, and jointly prepare for the coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the ministerial conference of FOCAC to promote the high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation and send more positive signals to the world.

Jean-Claude Gakosso said that China is a great country and a sincere friend and partner of the Republic of the Congo and all other African countries. The Republic of the Congo attaches great importance to the responsibilities of the co-chairmanship of the FOCAC and is willing to work closely with China to make good preparations for the coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the ministerial conference of FOCAC and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, so as to achieve more results in Africa-China cooperation.

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

On March 28, 2025, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso in Beijing.

Wang Yi said China and the Republic of the Congo have always understood, trusted and supported each other, and bilateral relations have become a model of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation. Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Denis Sassou Nguesso, bilateral relations have maintained a momentum of vigorous development, which has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and played an important role in the development and prosperity of Africa. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is the most important platform for China and Africa to achieve common development through solidarity and mutual assistance. With the support of African countries, the Republic of the Congo assumed the role of the African co-chair of the FOCAC last year. China is ready to work with the Republic of the Congo to actively implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, particularly the ten partnership actions, and jointly prepare for the coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the ministerial conference of FOCAC to promote the high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation and send more positive signals to the world. Faced with an international situation full of changes and turmoil, China and African countries need to unite and cooperate more closely to safeguard the common interests of developing countries and promote world peace, stability and development.

Jean-Claude Gakosso said that China is a great country and a sincere friend and partner of the Republic of the Congo and all other African countries. The Republic of the Congo attaches great importance to the responsibilities of the co-chairmanship of the FOCAC and is willing to work closely with China to make good preparations for the coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the ministerial conference of FOCAC and China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, so as to achieve more results in Africa-China cooperation. The international situation is undergoing rapid changes. He expressed the belief that China, as an ancient civilization, has the wisdom to find solutions to the problems facing the world and play a more significant role in peace and stability in Africa.

The two sides also had an exchange of views on the current situation in Africa.

China and India mark 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations

China and India marked the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations on April 1, with President Xi Jinping exchanging congratulatory messages with Indian President Droupadi Murmu.

Xi Jinping noted that China and India, both ancient civilisations, major developing countries and important members of the Global South, are both at a critical stage of their respective modernisation efforts. The development of China-India relations demonstrates that it is the right choice for the two countries to be partners of mutual achievement and realise the “Dragon-Elephant Tango”, which fully serves the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples. Both sides should view and handle China-India relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, seek a way for neighbouring major countries to get along with each other, which features peaceful coexistence, mutual trust, mutual benefit and common development, and jointly promote a multipolar world and greater democracy in international relations.

Droupadi Murmu said that India and China are two neighbouring major countries that are home to one-third of the world’s population. A stable, predictable and friendly bilateral relationship will benefit both countries and the world. She proposed to take the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China as an opportunity to jointly promote the sound and steady development of India-China relations.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Li Qiang said that China is ready to work with India to take the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as an opportunity to continuously enhance strategic mutual trust, promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields, properly handle the boundary question, steer bilateral relations forward along a sound and stable track, and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Narendra Modi said that India and China, as two ancient civilisations, have played an important role in shaping the course of human history, and now shoulder the heavy responsibility of promoting peace and development. The development of India-China relations is not only conducive to the prosperity and stability of the world but also contributes to the realisation of a multipolar world.

China’s Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong hosted a major reception to celebrate the anniversary that day.

In his speech, Ambassador Xu said: “Looking back at the extraordinary journey of China-India relations, there are four inspirations embedded therein that are particularly worth drawing upon.

“First, strategic guidance of our leaders serves as the ‘anchor’ for China-India relations. Over the past 75 years, the leaders of the two countries have consistently steered the relationship at critical historical junctures. In 1950, Chairman Mao Zedong and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made the historic decision of establishing diplomatic ties, and India became the first non-socialist country to have diplomatic relations with China. In 1988, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China, and the two sides agreed to ‘look forward’, initiating the normalisation process of bilateral relations. Since 2013, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out ‘hometown diplomacy’ and two informal meetings, which propelled the bilateral relations into a period of rapid development. Last October, the leaders of our two countries met in Kazan, and opened a new chapter for China-India relations.

“Second, friendly exchanges and cooperation form the ‘foundational fabric’ of China-India relations.  Our two peoples have sympathised with and supported each other in our respective struggle for national independence and liberation. Rabindranath Tagore and Dr. Kotnis have become timeless emblems of China-India friendship.

“Third, bridging differences through dialogue stands as the ‘one and only key’ of China-India relations. As close neighbours, our peoples may sometimes have differences. As Prime Minister Modi said, when two neighbouring countries exist, occasional disagreements are bound to happen. Even within a family, not everything is always perfect. But our focus is to ensure that these differences don’t turn into disputes. As two ancient civilisations, China and India both have the tradition and characteristics of cherishing peace and goodwill, as well as the wisdom and capacity to resolve differences through dialogue.

“Fourth, working for the future of the world is the ‘important mission’ of China-India relations. President Xi Jinping once said, if China and India speak with one voice, the whole world will listen; and if we join hands, the whole world will pay attention. Historically, the two great civilisations of China and India have enriched each other, and the total economic volume of the two countries has long accounted for half of global GDP, making momentous contributions to human progress. After the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and India jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, attended the Bandung Conference together, and promoted the independence and unity of Asian and African countries and the peaceful development of the world.”

Continue reading China and India mark 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations

Wang Yi: China and Russia are “forever friends, never enemies”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Moscow at the beginning of April, with his main agenda being the preparation of President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit in May for the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany.

Meeting with Wang on April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Russia and China to consistently enhance their strategic cooperation amid global turbulence. Marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, Putin extended an invitation for Chinese representatives to attend commemorative events in Russia. He emphasised the shared historical significance of celebrating victories over Nazi fascism and Japanese militarism, stating that Russia is fully making preparations for the occasion and added that this milestone should propel Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights and strengthen multilateral collaboration within frameworks such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the BRICS + mechanism.

Responding, Wang Yi recalled that over 80 years ago, the peoples of China and the Soviet Union fought tenaciously on the Asian and European fronts, sacrificing immensely to defeat Japanese militarism and Nazi fascism, thereby contributing decisively to global peace. Today, as pivotal stabilising forces in a turbulent world, China and Russia must jointly uphold the outcomes of World War II, defend the post-war international order, and reinforce the United Nations’ central role in the global system. Both countries, he added, are committed to advancing multilateralism and democratising international relations.

He further said that the two countries have aligned their plans to support each other’s 80th-anniversary commemorative events, expressing confidence that the leaders’ engagements this year will further promote bilateral ties.

The official website of the Russian President published extracts from the two men’s opening remarks.

President Putin said: “I am aware that you have an extensive and busy programme for your visit. First of all, it is connected with preparations for the visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China to Russia. We will prepare a good and fulfilling programme. I hope it will involve not only participation in solemn events but will also be a separate visit. The President of the People’s Republic of China will be our main guest, and we will have an opportunity to discuss the current state of bilateral relations and our interaction on international venues, primarily the UN – the UN Security Council – as well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS and a number of other platforms where we work together with great success.” [A number of analysts have suggested that Putin’s reference to Xi as being the “main guest” means either that the speculation that US President Donald Trump might also visit Moscow at this time is without foundation or that the US President would be accorded a lower protocol status than his Chinese counterpart.]

Wang Yi responded: “You have accurately noted that this year marks the 80th anniversary of Great Victory in the war against Nazism and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN. Eighty years ago, the Chinese and Soviet people fought bravely in Europe and Asia, on the main front, suffered heavy national losses, and defeated militaristic Japan and Nazi Germany, thus making a major contribution to peace for humanity. Eighty years later, today we must unite to uphold the outcomes of World War II, the post-war world order, and the UN-centric international system, and join our efforts to promote multipolarity and democratisation of international relations.

“Mr President, you accurately noted that preparations for President Xi Jinping’s visit and his participation in the celebrations to be held in early May are the main purpose of my current visit. Before this meeting with you now, Minister Lavrov and I have met to align every item on our agenda that concerns preparations for this visit.”

In the above-mentioned meeting with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister said that his country highly appreciates the global initiatives that China proposed, fully supports China’s position on the Taiwan question, and is willing to jointly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and safeguard a just and equitable international order.

Discussing Ukraine, Wang reiterated China’s consistent position and expressed support for all peace efforts, noting that China is willing to continue to build more international consensus through the Group of Friends for Peace and play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the crisis.

During his visit, Wang Yi also gave an extensive and exclusive interview to the Russia Today media group.

On the overall state of bilateral relations, he said:

“Under the strategic leadership of President Xi Jinping and President Putin, the partnership and strategic interaction between China and Russia has been continuously deepened, which not only fully meets the logic of history, but also proves the powerful self-sufficiency of bilateral ties. This allows us to live in peace, harmony and common prosperity, and furthermore contributes to the formation of a multipolar world and the democratisation of international relations.

“Today’s Sino-Russian relations have three characteristics: First, ‘Forever friends, never enemies.’ Our relations have matured on the basis of continuously summing up historical experience and learning from past lessons. The leaders of the two countries, with their inherent political foresight, made a historic decision to ‘close the past and open the future.’

“Second, equality and mutually beneficial cooperation. Chinese-Russian relations have acquired a qualitatively new content and scope. Cooperation is not only high-level, but also accessible to ordinary people, brings real tangible benefits to our peoples and provides enormous benefits to other countries of the world. 

“Third, non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties. Sino-Russian relations do not pose any threat to others, much less are they subject to outside interference or disruption and are not only a modern example of a new type of relationship between major powers, but also an important stabilising factor in a turbulent world.”

Continue reading Wang Yi: China and Russia are “forever friends, never enemies”

China-DPRK friendship will continue to strengthen and develop

The following article, which was originally published on the website of the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), on March 25, 2025, recalls the seventh anniversary of the first visit to China by the country’s top leader Kim Jong Un at the invitation of Xi Jinping, March 25-28, 2018.

It notes that Xi Jinping, “organised a special luncheon at Yangyuanzhai of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the very place where President Kim Il Sung had shared friendly feelings with the preceding leaders of China and strengthened friendly ties with Comrade Kim Jong Un in a family atmosphere.”

Xi Jinping said that the traditional China-DPRK friendship is a unique one forged by blood, and it provides the two parties and the peoples of the two countries with happiness.

For his part, Kim Jong Un expressed his will to develop onto a new higher level the DPRK-China friendly relationship which was formed in the course of the sacred joint struggle for the socialist cause and which has maintained its original character despite all ordeals of history.

Seven years ago from now, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), made his first historic visit to China from March 25 to 28, 2018, on invitation by Comrade Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People’s Republic of China.

During the period, Comrade Xi Jinping, who received respected Comrade Kim Jong Un as the most important state guest, accorded cordial hospitality with utmost sincerity. He organized a special luncheon at Yangyuanzhai of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the very place where President Kim Il Sung had shared friendly feelings with the preceding leaders of China, and strengthened friendly ties with Comrade Kim Jong Un in a family atmosphere.

In his speech made at a grand banquet arranged in welcome of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un’s visit to China, Comrade Xi Jinping said that the traditional China-DPRK friendship is a unique one forged by blood, and it provides the two Parties and the peoples of the two countries with happiness, just as a luxuriant tree with deep roots and a never-drying spring. He also underlined the need for both sides to value, safeguard and glorify the friendship – the precious asset common to the two countries.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, in turn, warmly congratulated Comrade Xi Jinping on his re-election as the president of the state. He expressed the steadfast will of the WPK and the DPRK government to develop onto a new higher level the DPRK-China friendly relationship which was formed in the course of the sacred joint struggle for the socialist cause and which has maintained its original character despite all ordeals of history, true to the noble intentions of the preceding leaders.

The first historic visit to China made by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un opened a brilliant chapter in the chronicles of the DPRK-China friendship. It served as a noteworthy event which provided a radical milestone in expanding and developing onto a new higher platform the time-honored friendly relations shared by the DPRK and China.

Thanks to the wise leadership of the leaders of the two Parties and the two countries, the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the DPRK and China will continue to strengthen and develop in the course for accomplishment of the common cause for dynamically promoting socialist construction, providing the peoples of the two countries with material well-being and safeguarding global peace and regional security.

Lao foreign minister: Laos and China are socialist comrades and brothers

Foreign Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) Thongsavanh Phomvihane met in Beijing on March 13 with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, becoming the first foreign minister to visit China since the country’s recent parliamentary ‘two sessions’.

Wang Yi said, since the establishment of diplomatic relations 64 years ago, the two parties and the two countries have always stood together through thick and thin and helped each other, and the comprehensive strategic cooperative relationship between the two sides has become ever more robust and resilient. As changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, China has always viewed and advanced China-Laos relations from the strategic perspective of a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy and the future of socialism. Wang Yi extended congratulations to the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on its 70th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. He said that China firmly supports the Lao side in strengthening Party leadership, advancing reform and opening up, and elevating its international standing.

Wang Yi noted that China’s ‘two sessions’ have just concluded successfully, setting an economic growth target of around five percent for 2025. This reflects a scientific attitude of seeking truth from facts, an enterprising spirit of striving hard to deliver, and the resolve to meet difficulties head-on. As a comrade and brother, China welcomes Laos to seize the new opportunities of China’s development and join hands to march toward modernisation. China is ready to deepen and expand practical cooperation, advance the development of the China-Laos Economic Corridor, expand and strengthen the China-Laos Railway, accelerate comprehensive development along the route, and expand cooperation in energy, artificial intelligence, digital economy and other fields.

Thongsavanh Phomvihane extended congratulations on the successful convening of China’s ‘two sessions’ and the important outcomes and commended China’s leapfrog development in spite of a complex external environment. Laos and China are socialist comrades and brothers who share weal and woe and move forward shoulder to shoulder. Laos firmly pursues the one-China policy and supports the Belt and Road Initiative and the three major global initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping. Laos is willing to work with China to deliver on the new action plan on building the Laos-China community with a shared future, promote the Laos-China Railway to exert a greater economic effect, make it into a “golden route” and a “road of friendship” between Laos and China, and further promote the vision of interconnected development of Laos, China and Thailand.

The following day, Thongsavanh Phomvihane met with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Ding said that, as socialist comrades and brothers, China and Laos should earnestly implement the important consensus reached between the top leaders of the two parties and countries, intensify high-level exchange, deepen political mutual trust, and work together to safeguard security and development interests. He also called on both countries to expand cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

Thongsavanh congratulated China on its successful convening of the ‘two sessions’, noting that Laos firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests. Laos is willing to deepen its comprehensive, practical cooperation with China and push the construction of a Laos-China community with a shared future to a new level.

The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and by the Xinhua News Agency.

Wang Yi Holds Talks with Lao Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane

March 13 (MFA) — On March 13, 2025, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Lao Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane in Beijing.

Wang Yi said, since the establishment of diplomatic relations 64 years ago, the two parties and the two countries have always stood together through thick and thin and helped each other, and the comprehensive strategic cooperative relationship between the two sides has become ever more robust and resilient. General Secretary Xi Jinping had a successful meeting with General Secretary Thongloun Sisoulith on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan last year, injecting strong impetus to deepening the building of a China-Laos community with a shared future in the new era. As changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, China has always viewed and advanced China-Laos relations from the strategic perspective of a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and the future of socialism. Wang Yi extended congratulations to the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on its 70th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. He said that China firmly supports the Lao side in strengthening Party leadership, advancing reform and opening up, and elevating its international standing. China is ready to enhance strategic mutual trust with Laos, strengthen solidarity and coordination, and accelerate the building of a China-Laos community with a shared future.

Continue reading Lao foreign minister: Laos and China are socialist comrades and brothers

China, Russia and Iran condemn unlawful unilateral sanctions

Against a background of US President Donald Trump’s heightened threats to Iran, unmistakably contained in his recent letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, ostensibly offering dialogue, and the aggravated threat of a general and all out war in West Asia, an important meeting, at Deputy Foreign Minister level, between China, Russia and Iran, was held in Beijing on March 14.

It was chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu of the People’s Republic of China, with participation of Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich of the Russian Federation and Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The three countries engaged in in-depth discussions on the latest state of play with regard to the Iranian nuclear issue and the question of sanctions lifting and issued a joint statement.

The statement emphasised the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions and reiterated that political and diplomatic engagement and dialogue based on the principle of mutual respect remain the only viable and practical option. Relevant parties, they noted, should be committed to addressing the root cause of the current situation and abandoning sanction, pressure, or threat of force.

They also reiterated the importance of upholding the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime. China and Russia welcomed Iran’s reiteration that its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes and not for development of nuclear weapons.

Iran and Russia commended China for its constructive role and for hosting the Beijing meeting. The three countries agreed to continue their close consultation and cooperation in the future. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest and agreed to maintain and strengthen their coordination in international organisations and multilateral arrangements such as BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Also on March 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Russia and Iran.

Wang Yi said that over the past year or so, tensions in the Middle East have continued to escalate, with the regional security situation deteriorating significantly and hotspot issues emerging one after another. He added that there are enough issues in the Middle East, and all parties should focus on addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an unresolved historical injustice lingering since World War II, rather than creating new tensions or even crises.

The Chinese Foreign Minister put forward a five-point proposal on the Iranian nuclear issue, the first of which is to stay committed to peaceful settlement of disputes through political and diplomatic means and to oppose the use of force and illegal sanctions.

Meanwhile, in the days immediately before the meeting, China, Russia and Iran held joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman. It was the fifth year for the three countries to hold such joint drills, which begun near the Iranian port of Chabahar.

The Chinese newspaper Global Times reported that the exercises featured three phases – an assembly and preparation phase, a maritime drill phase and a harbour summary phase.

The maritime drill phase featured such training courses as maritime target strikes, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), damage control, as well as joint search and rescue operations. Exercises included live-fire shooting of heavy machine guns against maritime targets, night live-fire shooting practices, light communication practices, rescuing simulated hijacked commercial ships and a fleet review.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told Global Times that the exercises had boosted the three navies’ maritime combat capabilities through maritime strike and damage control trainings. Routine joint exercises among the three sides continuously enhance their navies’ interoperability, he added, and the three sides’ joint command and control as well as joint strike capabilities were displayed through the drill courses.

Qatar based Al Jazeera noted that the exercises had got underway at a time when Iran accused the US of bullying. It noted that the Russian Ministry of Defence reported that “the ships’ crews conducted daytime and nighttime fire from large-calibre machine guns and small arms at targets simulating unmanned boats and unmanned aerial vehicles of a mock enemy.”

Al Jazeera further noted that Iran’s Press TV reported that naval groups from Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka also observed the drills.

The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Joint Statement of the Beijing Meeting between China, Russia and Iran

March 14 (MFA) — The Beijing Meeting between China, Russia and Iran was successfully held on March 14, 2025. The Beijing Meeting was chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu of the People’s Republic of China, with participation of Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich of the Russian Federation and Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

China, Russia and Iran engaged in in-depth discussions on the latest state of play with regard to nuclear issue and sanctions lifting. The three countries emphasized on the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions.

Continue reading China, Russia and Iran condemn unlawful unilateral sanctions

Friendship between China and Ireland rooted in history and culture

The following is a brief commentary written by our co-editor Keith Bennett following the recent visit to Ireland by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in which he draws attention to the long history of friendly relations between the peoples of Ireland and China, rooted in shared experiences of struggling for national liberation, economic ties, culture and sports.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently reaffirmed his country’s strong commitment to friendship with Ireland, saying that Beijing is committed to enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation with Dublin so as to achieve shared development and prosperity.

Wang made these remarks at a February 17 meeting with Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Michael Martin. Although Ireland is a small country, it evidently enjoys an important place in Chinese diplomacy. Wang’s visit came just 13 months after that by Premier Li Qiang, which marked 45 years of bilateral diplomatic relations.

With its welcoming attitude to foreign investment, a number of Chinese companies have chosen Ireland for their European headquarters. They include TikTok, Huawei, Temu and Shein. As Wang observed, relations with Ireland have developed in tandem with China’s reform and opening up.  In 1980, late President Jiang Zemin, then holding vice-ministerial rank, took part in a three-week training program in the Shannon free trade zone. China’s first special economic zone, in Shenzhen, was established that same year.

However, the friendship between the Chinese and Irish peoples is also underpinned by their common history of struggling against foreign aggression and occupation and to achieve national liberation and reunification.

During his stay in Europe, of the fifty-seven articles that China’s future Premier Zhou Enlai wrote between 1921-22 for the progressive newspaper Yi Shibao, a number were on the brutality of British attempts to suppress the Irish war of independence.

From Japan, Guo Moruo, subsequently famous for his poetic dialogue with Mao Zedong, had followed the 1920 hunger strike of the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney in south London’s Brixton prison with four poems, later included in his ‘Selected Poems from The Goddesses’.

Indeed, culture has played a significant part in the people-to-people friendship between China and Ireland.

In 1890, the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, whose own works were first translated into Chinese in 1909, wrote a review of the first complete translation into English of Zhuangzi (Zhuang Zhou), the Daoist scholar from the Warring States period (4th century BCE). In Zhuangzi, Wilde is said to have discovered a kindred spirit, one whose ideas resonate in his own only explicitly political essay, ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’.

During his December 2014 state visit to China, Irish President Michael D. Higgins, in a speech delivered at the former Shanghai residence of Sun Yat Sen, the leader of China’s 1911 democratic revolution, and his wife Song Qingling, later the Honorary President of the People’s Republic of China, recalled the 1933 visit to the same house of the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw:

“Today’s gathering… is not just an opportunity to recall the seminal role played by these three figures in the history of Ireland and China. Commemorating Shaw’s encounter with Song Qingling and several other Chinese writers and intellectuals [who included Lu Xun] also provides a valuable occasion to celebrate and assert, together, the value and abiding importance of international exchanges of ideas.”

Describing Shaw as “an essayist and polemicist, a free-thinker and a stout defender of the rights of the working classes and the marginalised,” President Higgins added that his “visit to Shanghai coincided with an era of great turbulence globally – a period when foreign powers were pushing rival claims onto China, as the Chinese people struggled to assert national sovereignty and define both an appropriate form of government and a new model of society for themselves.

“As a Fabian, Shaw was undoubtedly alive to the possibilities of a wider socialist awakening in China. As an Irishman, he would have been sensitive to the Chinese calls for national sovereignty. At the same time, he was mindful not to be prescriptive in his conversation with his Chinese counterparts… In the message he addressed to the Chinese people on the occasion of his visit, Shaw thus wrote:

“‘It is not for me, belonging as I do to a quarter of the globe which is mismanaging its affairs in a ruinous fashion to pretend to advise an ancient people striving to set its house in order.’”

Words which surely have lost none of their contemporary resonance.

The following day, speaking at Fudan University, Higgins noted that Marco Polo’s chronicles of his adventures in China had been translated into the Irish language within a century and around 150 years before an English translation.  And although diplomatic relations were not established until 1979: “Ireland was one of a small number of Western countries who, between 1957 and 1971, was anxious to support the process which led to the representation of the People’s Republic of China at the United Nations… In 1971, Ireland therefore supported the People’s Republic of China’s recognition and admission to the UN.”

The build up to the establishment of diplomatic relations saw an intensification of people-to-people ties in which sport also played a significant part.

At his reception to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, then Chinese Ambassador to Ireland He Xiangdong gave a special welcome to Kevin Carey, Patrick Dwyer, John McGrath, Norman Plunkett, Brian Purcell and Martin Moran, describing them as among the earliest Irish ” envoys” to the new China. In 1976, three years before the establishment of diplomatic relations, together with their teammates of the University College Dublin (UCD) football team, they had paid a three-week visit to six cities in China and had “shared their experiences in Irish newspapers, opening a window for the Irish people at that time to know something about China.”

On his February 2012 visit to Ireland, Xi Jinping, then Vice-President of China, displayed his skills at both Gaelic football and hurling at Dublin’s Croke Park. The home to Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Croke Park is also a hallowed place in the Irish people’s struggle for independence, being the scene of the November 21, 1920 ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre of 13 spectators and one player by paramilitary police.

Xi Jinping’s passion for sport, and particularly his respect for Ireland’s indigenous games, made a tremendous impression on people in Ireland (although in the British media it was generally misreported as soccer), and years later keen observers of his New Year message noted the photo of his kicking off displayed in his office. It remains a powerful and touching symbol of the deep-rooted friendship and mutual respect between the peoples of China and Ireland – one that has the potential to make their bilateral relationship a model for those between countries of different sizes and with different social systems.

Wang Yi: China is a progressive force for international fairness and justice

As part of the events around this year’s meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s highest legislative body, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met the Chinese and international media on March 7 and answered their questions on key topics related to China’s foreign policy and external relations for 90 minutes.

Among the highlights of the press conference were:

Responding to China Central Television:

The three monumental events that China hosted last year, i.e., the conference marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, set a new benchmark of the Global South joining hands for common progress… President Xi Jinping, as the leader of a major country and a big political party, has shown a global vision and shouldered the responsibility of our times, and led China’s diplomacy in upholding fundamental principles, breaking new ground, and making steady progress… the success of the Chinese path to modernisation and the inspiration it offers are increasingly recognised and emulated by more and more countries.

Last month, President Xi attended the opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games, marking the beginning of the diplomatic events that China will host this year. We will solemnly commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War and hold a series of major events including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Responding to ITAR-TASS:

Based on deep reflections on historical experience, China and Russia have decided to forge everlasting good-neighbourliness and friendship, conduct comprehensive strategic coordination, and pursue mutual benefit, cooperation and win-win, because this best serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples and conforms to the trend of our times… A mature, resilient and stable China-Russia relationship will not be swayed by any turn of events, let alone be subject to interference by any third party. It is a constant in a turbulent world rather than a variable in geopolitical games. 

This year will be the 80th anniversary of the victory in WWII. Back then, China and Russia fought valiantly in the main theatres of Asia and Europe respectively. The two nations made immense sacrifice for and major, historic contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. The two sides will take the opportunity of joint commemoration of this important historical milestone to advocate the correct historical view of WWII, defend its victorious outcomes, uphold the UN-centred international system, and promote a more just and equitable international order.

Responding to the Xinhua News Agency:

We will be a just and righteous force for world peace and stability. We will continue to expand our global partnerships featuring equality, openness and cooperation, actively use the Chinese approach in resolving hot-spot issues, and write a new chapter of the Global South seeking strength through unity… We will be a progressive force for international fairness and justice. We will uphold true multilateralism, and bear in mind the future of humanity and the well-being of the people.

Responding to CNN:

There are more than 190 countries in the world. Should everyone stress “my country first” and obsess over a position of strength, the law of the jungle would reign the world again. Smaller and weaker countries would bear the brunt first, and international norms and order would take a body blow… New China stands firm on the side of international justice and resolutely opposes power politics and hegemony. History should move forward, not backward. A big country should honour its international obligations and fulfill its due responsibilities. It should not put selfish interests before principles, still less wield its power to bully the weak. A saying in the West goes, “There are no eternal friends, only permanent interests.” But we in China believe that friends should be permanent, and we should pursue common interests…

President Xi Jinping has proposed building a community with a shared future for humanity and called on all countries to transcend disagreements and differences, jointly protect our only planet, and develop together the global village as our common home. This great vision reflects not only the fine tradition of Chinese civilisation that the world belongs to all, but also the internationalist commitment of Chinese Communists. It enables us to see the well-being of the entire humanity, just like having a bird’s-eye view of all the mountains that would look small when we stand on a peak, as described in an ancient Chinese poem.

Responding to Radio Republik Indonesia:

Continue reading Wang Yi: China is a progressive force for international fairness and justice

Céad Míle Fáilte [100,000 Welcomes] for New Chinese Ambassador to Ireland

In the following article, Gearóid Ó Machail, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), as well as of the Friends of Socialist China Advisory Group, reports on the welcome extended to the new Chinese Ambassador to his country against a backdrop of high-level bilateral exchanges and an increasingly fraught international situation.

The Chinese Embassy in Ireland  hosted a grand reception on February 17 to welcome newly appointed Ambassador Zhao Xiyu an and Madame Li Yi and to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a vibrant Spring Festival Gala. The event brought together more than 400 dignitaries, government officials, political and community representatives to mark the occasion in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.

2025 sees the 46th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Ireland, with Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit in January 2024 injecting new momentum into their strategic partnership for mutually beneficial cooperation based on mutual trust, respect and support. Ireland was the only EU stop for China’s No 2 official on a trip that also took in a speaking slot at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Reception and Gala at The Helix in Dublin City University followed Ambassador Zhao Xinyuan’s presentation of his credentials to President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin [The Presidential Residence] in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Following the ceremony, he inspected the Irish Defence Forces Guard of Honour. The event was attended by Secretary General to the President Orla O’Hanrahan, Minister of State Emer Higgins, and Minister Counsellor Yang Tong of the Chinese Embassy.

Ambassador Zhao conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s warm greetings and best wishes to President Higgins and the Irish people. He noted that, under the strategic guidance of both countries’ leaders, China-Ireland relations have steadily advanced in recent years, yielding fruitful cooperation. He emphasised China’s commitment to national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernisation and reaffirmed Ireland’s role as an important partner, expressing hope for stronger bilateral ties.

President Higgins asked Ambassador Zhao to extend his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people. He fondly recalled hosting President Xi during his visit to Ireland in 2012 [as China’s Vice President] and his own state visit to China in 2014. President Higgins reiterated Ireland’s commitment to deepening cooperation with China, upholding multilateralism, and fostering the continued growth of Ireland-China relations.

The evening reception for Ambassador Zhao Xiyuan and Madame Li Yi showcased a stunning variety of musicians, dancers, singers and performers who had travelled from the People’s Republic of China to welcome the arrival of Spring and the Chinese New Year of the Snake in Ireland. It took place on the same day that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had been in Dublin to meet his Irish counterpart Simon Harris TD and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin.

In his address, Ambassador Zhao reflected on China’s remarkable achievements in economic growth, scientific innovation, and modernisation over the past year. He emphasised his country’s commitment to advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through a Chinese path to modernisation, which will generate new opportunities for global partners, including Ireland. Highlighting Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Ireland that day, he reaffirmed China’s dedication to strengthening high-level mutual trust, expanding cooperation, and fostering deeper, more practical, and mutually beneficial relations between the two nations.

The reception and gala were attended by Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy TD (Chairperson of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament), former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, representatives of major political parties, including Micheál Mac Donncha of  Sinn Féin, and other distinguished guests from the Irish government, the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), county and city councils, the diplomatic corps, and various local communities. Along with the Chinese artists, attendees also enjoyed captivating performances from their Irish counterparts,, collectively making for a vivid celebration of the rich cultural ties between the two nations. In a warm and friendly atmosphere, guests engaged in meaningful discussions about China’s development and the promising future of China-Ireland relations.

Continue reading Céad Míle Fáilte [100,000 Welcomes] for New Chinese Ambassador to Ireland

Donald Trump’s Reverse Kissinger strategy

In the following article, Vijay Prashad analyses what is being referred to as Donald Trump’s ‘Reverse Kissinger Strategy’, namely an apparent attempt to end the conflict in Ukraine and improve relations with Russia to a certain extent, with a view to concentrating US firepower on China.

Vijay first outlines Trump’s moves regarding Ukraine and NATO and towards the arms industry at home and continues:

There is a fundamental misreading of these moves by the Trump administration. They are sometimes seen as the idiosyncratic flailing of a far-right president who is committed to putting ‘America First’ and so is unwilling to pursue expensive wars that are not in its interest. But this is a short-sighted and erroneous assessment of Trump’s phone call with Putin on Ukraine and approach to the US military. Rather than see this as an isolationist manoeuvre, it is important to understand that Trump is attempting to pursue a ‘Reverse Kissinger Strategy’, namely, to befriend Russia to isolate China.

According to Vijay, Trump understands that Russia is not an existential threat to the United States. “However, China’s rapid development of technology and science as well as of the new productive forces genuinely poses a threat to US domination of the key sectors of the global economy. It is the US perceived ‘threat’ from China that motivates Trump’s approach to alliances and enemies.”

He notes that both US President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger closely followed the steadily worsening split between the Soviet Union and China: “When Nixon became president, the USSR-PRC border dispute around Zhenbao Island almost escalated with a potential Soviet nuclear strike against Beijing.” It was this tragic division that provided the opening for the United States. “Nixon’s epochal visit to China was entirely driven by US interests to divide Russia and China so that the US could establish its power around the Asian continent.”

Vijay concludes that what the United States is now doing is to attempt to break the relation established between China and Russia since 2007, but:

It is worth remembering Kissinger’s assessment of the Chinese leadership in 1971: ‘Their interest is 100 percent political… Remember, these are men of ideological purity. Zhou Enlai joined the Communist Party in France in 1920… before there was a Chinese Communist Party. This generation didn’t fight for 50 years and go on the Long March for trade’. This view captures not only Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, but also Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. They too have been steeled in a struggle against the United States over the course of the past decade. It is unlikely that a few baubles will attract Putin to adopt Trump’s ‘Reverse Kissinger Strategy’.

The article was originally published by No Cold War.

US President Donald Trump called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and told him that his government is committed to a peace process in Ukraine. As part of the deal, Trump’s administration made it clear that sections of eastern Ukraine and the Crimea would remain in Russian hands. Speaking at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Trump’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that it was ‘unrealistic’ to assume that Ukraine would return to its pre-2014 borders, which means that Crimea would not be part of any negotiations with Russia. NATO membership for Ukraine, he said, was not going to be possible as far as the United States was concerned. The United States, Hegseth told NATO, was not ‘primarily focused’ on European security, but on putting its own national interests first and foremost. The best that the European leaders at NATO could do was to demand that Ukraine have a seat at the talks, but there was very little said against the US pressure that Russia be given concessions to come to the table. Ukraine and Europe can have their say, Hegseth said, but Trump would set the agenda. ‘What he decides to allow and not allow is at the purview of the leader of the free world, of President Trump’, Hegseth said with characteristic midwestern swagger. The cowboys, he said with his body language, are back in charge.

While Hegseth was in Brussels, Trump was in Washington, DC with his close ally Elon Musk. Both are on a rampage to cut government spending. Over the past five decades, the US government has already shrunk, particularly when it comes to social welfare provision. What remains are areas that have been jealously guarded by the large corporations, such as the arms industry. It had always seemed as if this industry was inviolate and that cuts in military spending in the United States would be impossible to sustain. But the arms industry can rest easy (except Lockheed Martin, which might lose its subsidy for the F-35 fighter jet); Musk and his team are not going to cut military contracts but go after the military and civilian employees. During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth told the Senators that during World War II the United States had seven four-star generals and now it has forty-four of them. ‘There is an inverse relationship between the size of staffs and victory on the battlefield. We do not need more bureaucracy at the top. We need more war fighters empowered at the bottom’. He said that the ‘fat can be cut, so [the US military] can go toward lethality’.

Continue reading Donald Trump’s Reverse Kissinger strategy

Xi’s special envoy attends inauguration of Uruguay’s new president

On March 1st, Yamandú Orsi was inaugurated as the new President of Uruguay in the national capital Montevideo. Orsi was elected President in a second, run off round of voting on November 24, 2024, as the candidate of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio). The Broad Front is a coalition of 12 left-wing political parties, foremost among them the Communist Party and the Socialist Party. The front returns to the political leadership of the country after five years in opposition, strengthening the left wing and progressive forces in Latin America.

China’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun attended the inauguration as the Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping. Among other prominent political figures in attendance were the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Chile.

Meeting with President Orsi on March 2nd, Han conveyed the greetings and best wishes of Xi Jinping and said that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Uruguay relations and is willing to work hand in hand with Uruguay to lift bilateral relations to higher levels so as to better benefit the two peoples, inject more stability and certainty into Latin America and the international community, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Orsi said that successive governments of Uruguay have attached great importance to developing relations with China, and there is broad consensus on this across all sectors of society. The new Uruguayan government is willing to work with China to continuously deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, steadily strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, and make joint efforts to defend multilateralism and free trade and cope with global challenges.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has long maintained close friendly relations with the Broad Front. In August 2024, during his visit to Uruguay, Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), met with a number of its leaders, including Orsi, then the prospective presidential candidate.

Liu said that political parties play an important role in the political life of a country. The CPC attaches importance to its relations with the Broad Front and is willing to further strengthen exchanges between the two Parties at all levels, carry out various forms of exchanges and cooperation, deepen pragmatic cooperation through the channel of political party relations, promote sub-national exchanges, and push the continuous development of China-Uruguay relations.

The Uruguayan side welcomed the CPC delegation, which visited the headquarters of the Broad Front. They said that not long ago, a delegation of the Broad Front cadres visited China at the invitation of the CPC, enhancing their understanding of China and the CPC.

During his visit, Liu also met with Ana Olivera, President of the House of Representatives of Uruguay, who is also a leading member of the Communist Party of Uruguay. She fondly recalled her visit to China and appreciated China’s commitment to comprehensive reform and its great achievements in poverty alleviation and other fields. She said, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Uruguay and China, successive Uruguayan administrations have advocated friendship with China, with new progress having been made in bilateral relations.

The above-mentioned Broad Front delegation had visited China the previous month, July 2024, and was led by its general coordinator Jorge Gotta.

Meeting the delegation, Minister Liu noted that the CPC and the Broad Front of Uruguay are partners who share the same goals. The two sides should strengthen friendly exchanges, deepen exchanges and mutual learning of experience in state governance and administration, promote practical cooperation in various fields through inter-party channels, and promote the development of China-Uruguay relations and the friendship between the two peoples.

Continue reading Xi’s special envoy attends inauguration of Uruguay’s new president