Mereja.Forum

China and Eritrea should enrich strategic partnership - Premier Li

By Joe Cash

https://www.reuters.com/world/china-eri ... ce=twitter


Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki attend a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - China's Premier Li Qiang told visiting Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Monday their countries should

deepen mutually beneficial win-win cooperation and continuously enrich their strategic partnership

at a meeting in Beijing.


Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki attends a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (not pictured), at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool

On the Red Sea, Eritrea could be geopolitically important for China, with its access to the Suez Canal and Europe to the north and the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean to the southeast, as China seeks to bolster its presence in the Horn of Africa.

Eritrea also shares a border with Djibouti, where China's People's Liberation Army set up its first overseas military base in 2017.


Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends a meeting with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki (not pictured), at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool

The contributions made by the People's Republic of China to transform the world order into a more just and fair relationship among people and nations will definitely cause global challenges and transform the systems that we have,

Afwerki, who has held office since Eritrea gained independence from neighbouring Ethiopia in 1993, told Li.

In March, Eritrea's foreign ministry called a U.S. State Department ruling that its military had committed war crimes in a two-year conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region

unsubstantiated and defamatory.

The

marginalised continent of Africa and the rest of the world will heavily defend and expect more contributions from the People's Republic of China,

Afwerki said.

Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Robert Birsel


Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki attend a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool





_______________










Eritrean president lays wreath at Monument to People's Heroes in Beijing

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-05-15/E ... index.html



15-May-2023

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki laid a wreath at the Monument to the People's Heroes at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, on Monday.

Afwerki is on a state visit to China, from May 14.












ፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ፡ ኣብ ከተማ በይጂን - ኣደባባይ ‘ትያናንመን’ ኣብ ዝርከብ ንዝኽሪ ‘ጀጋኑ ህዝቢ’ ዝቘመ ሓወልቲ፡ ኣኽሊል ዕንባባ ኣንቢሩ።

Things are changing fast:

A huge diplomatic success for Eritrea. And a great independence day gift to the people of Eritrea. Congratulations my Eritrean brothers and sisters.

Zmeselo wrote: ↑

15 May 2023, 06:04

To upgrade the Eritrea-China relations to a strategic partnership. That is great and wonderful....!

Chinese President Xi Jinping, welcomes President Isaias. @hawelti

During talks with Eritrean President Afwerki, President Xi said China commends Eritrea for pursuing a longstanding independent foreign policy.

As we celebrate 30 years of diplomatic ties on May 24, China and Eritrea will continue to support each other, work for stronger bilateral relations, and uphold the common interests of our two countries and other developing countries. Hua Chunying 华春莹: @SpokespersonCHN

Amazing development. We're on our way up and nothing can stop us. Long live Eri-Sino relationship. We hope the Chinese will help us avoid the effects of the criminal US oligarchy's sanctions. Eritrea is on the path of becoming the African Singapore

Great development!

This is a great day for Eritrea. Having China’s partnership upgrading is way overdue but it is better late than never.

ፕረዚደንት ሺ ጂንፒንግ፡ ሎሚ 15 ግንቦት ንፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ፡ ብናይ ክብሪ ሰልፊን ሃገራዊ መዛሙር ኤርትራን ቻይናን ዝተሰነየ ወግዓዊ ኣቀባብላ ገይሩሉ። ንክብሪ ፕ/ት ኢሳይያስን ምስኡ ዝተጓዕዘ ልኡኽን ድማ፡ 21 ግዜ መድፍዕ ተተኲሱ።




President Xi Jinping held a grand ceremony, at the Great Hall of People, to welcome President Isaias Afwerki & his delegation who are paying a State visit to China on the auspicious occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The elaborate welcoming ceremony included a 21-Gun Salute in honour of the President and his delegation.



Earlier in the day, President Isaias & his delegation met with Prime Minister Li Qiang at the Great Hall of People. PM Qiang stated that bilateral ties between the two countries have transcended normative diplomatic ties to constitute strategic relationship & tangible cooperation.



President Isaias on his part, underlined that Eritrea-China ties go back to almost 60 years and expressed profound gratitude to the CPC for extending moral & material support to the struggle of the Eritrean people for independence.

The two sides discussed a broad range of areas for investment and development cooperation including in the sectors of manufacturing, coastal development, blue economy, digital economy, mining, education, health and human capacity development. @hawelti

Well deserved grand reception for the revolutionary leader… Issu is the hero and revolutionary leader of our time as Che Guevara
Che Guevara of our time indeed!!! Somebody needs to write a book about his philosophy of nation building and governance with self reliance motto as a guide for others

euroland wrote: ↑

15 May 2023, 09:08

Great development!

This is a great day for Eritrea. Having China’s partnership upgrading is way overdue but it is better late than never.

Yes bro, strategic relationship at that!

Xi holds talks with Eritrean president

https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/xi ... 03891.html


Photo: Xinhua

BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua)-- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday held talks with President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea in Beijing.

Hailing China and Eritrea's profound traditional friendship, Xi said the two countries will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations on May 24 and that over the past 30 years, China and Eritrea have always trusted and supported each other.

China views and develops bilateral relations with Eritrea from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is a reliable friend of Eritrea, Xi said.



In face of the current international situation, which is full of instability and uncertainty, a sound China-Eritrea relationship not only serves the common and long-term interests of the two countries, but is also of great significance to regional peace and international fairness and justice, Xi said, pledging to advance China's strategic partnership with Eritrea.

China appreciates Eritrea's long-standing adherence to an independent foreign policy, firmly supports Eritrea in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions, firmly supports Eritrea in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and opposes external interference in Eritrea's internal affairs and the imposition of unilateral sanctions, the Chinese president said.

Xi said China is ready to share experience with Eritrea on national governance, jointly oppose unilateralism and bullying, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries.

China is ready to work with Eritrea to advance mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve common development through various frameworks and platforms, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa,

Xi said.

China supports Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Eritrea, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation on infrastructure construction, telecommunications, agriculture, mining and fisheries, and will continue to send medical teams and senior agricultural experts to Eritrea, Xi said.

He thanked Eritrea for providing support and assistance to China during its recent evacuation of Chinese citizens in Sudan, which again demonstrated the profound friendship between the two countries. He called for more measures to enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Xi said that no matter how the situation develops, mutual respect, understanding, support and help have always been the key features of China-Africa friendships. He noted that China-Africa cooperation plays a leading role in South-South cooperation and in international cooperation with Africa.

Africa is a promising land. Under the new circumstances, it is more important than ever for China and Africa to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to overcome difficulties together,

Xi said.

China is ready to work with Africa to carry forward traditional friendships, consolidate strategic mutual trust, create new opportunities for Africa with China's high-quality development and modernization, deepen practical cooperation with Africa, and build an even closer China-Africa community with a shared future, Xi said.

Afwerki spoke of his special bond with China that has lasted for over half a century, saying that the Eritrean people will never forget the precious support the Chinese people provided for Eritrea's independence and liberation.

Afwerki said that China is a great country. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country has grown into a world power, making outstanding contributions to peace and development of humanity, he said.

He noted that China has always held the moral high ground, put forward its own solutions to global challenges, upheld international fairness and justice, and encouraged developing countries to seek independence and development.

Afwerki said that any attempt to contain or suppress China's development is bound to fail. The evolution of international order is at a critical stage, and African countries still face hegemonism and unfair and unjust treatment. The international community expects and believes that China will make greater contributions to human development and progress, and to international fairness and justice.

Eritrea hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and believes that the Eritrea-China strategic partnership will help Eritrea achieve national economic and social development, Afwerki said.

Prior to the talks, Xi held a welcome ceremony for Afwerki at the square outside the east entrance of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

(With input from Xinhua)

1967: 5th from left, tegadalay Isaias Afwerki in China with his comrades for training.

Fun Fact: At that time, China's Xi Jinping was 10 years old. Eritrea's Isaias Afwerki, 21 years old.

You respect yourself first, then the world respects you.

Zmeselo wrote: ↑

15 May 2023, 15:51