Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn on the sidelines of the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bagan, Myanmar, on July 3, 2022. (ZHANG DONGQIANG / XINHUA)
BAGAN, Myanmar – Chinese foreign minister met his counterparts from Cambodia and Laos here separately on Sunday and pledged to further strengthen bilateral relations and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.
They met on the sidelines of the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held on Monday in Bagan.
During their meeting, Wang Yi and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn pledged to further enhance cooperation in building the Belt and Road and other fields.
While praising the all-around cooperation between China and Cambodia is at the forefront of China's relations with other regional countries, Wang said that under new circumstances, China is willing to work with Cambodia to further implement the strategic consensuses reached between their leaderships, strengthen communication, and deepen cooperation, to do a good job in solidifying the China-Cambodia community with a shared future, and to celebrate the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2023 with more visible results.
As a close strategic partner, China will continue to stand firmly with Cambodia and support its political stability and economic development, he said.
Sokhonn said Cambodia speaks highly of the China-proposed Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, believing they will make significant contribution to global peace and development.
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Describing the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership as strong, he said Cambodia will continue to firmly adhere to the one-China policy, and support China's stance on issues concerning Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
Both sides pledged to continuously advance the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Cambodia's development strategy, and achieve progress in related economic and infrastructure projects. They also agreed to continue cooperation in fields including anti-pandemic, agriculture, environmental protection, technology, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Wang said China will deliver the remaining 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in time according to the need of the Cambodian side, provide other anti-epidemic supplies at an early time, expand the export of Cambodian rice to China, and increase direct flights between the two countries.
Saying that Beijing fully supports the important role of Cambodia as the 2022 ASEAN Chair.
Cambodia opposes any external forces compelling regional countries to take sides and pushing for zero-sum mentality and geopolitical rivalry, Sokhonn said, adding that his country is willing to work with China to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity of this region.
They also exchanged views on issues related to Myanmar, the South China Sea and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Lao Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith on the sidelines of the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bagan, Myanmar, on July 3, 2022. (ZHANG DONGQIANG / XINHUA)
While meeting with Lao Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Wang Yi said the building of the China-Laos community with a shared future has been making significant progress, with bilateral trade climbing against the odds, and the China-Laos Railway running efficiently.
The two sides agreed to give full play to the radiation effect of the China-Laos Railway, explore connections among the logistics chain, value chain and production chain along the railway, achieve high quality connectivity and push for third-party market cooperation.
They agreed to work together to resist cold war mentality and zero-sum game, oppose double standard wantonly pursued by some countries, and reject interference in and sabotage of exchanges and cooperation among countries.
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Wang said China is ready to join hands with all countries to staunchly pursue true security, which is common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable; consistently seek the true development, which is balanced, coordinated, beneficial and win-win; and firmly safeguard the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the true order which is based on international law.
For his part, Saleumxay said currently the Laos-China relationship enjoys strong momentum, with the construction of the Laos-China Railway completed on time, and its successful running has fully demonstrated the great value and achievement of the BRI, helping Laos to transform from a land-locked country to a land-linked one and bringing real benefits to the Lao people.
Laos holds high expectations for the future of the Laos-China community with a shared future, and hopes to make strategic alignment of development plans with the Chinese side and speed up the implementation of a series of bilateral cooperative agreements, he noted.