Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste Xiao Jianguo
Timor-Leste is a small island nation located at the southeastern tip of the Southeast Asian region, at the crossroads of Asia and Oceania, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, with a unique geographical location. It is one of the youngest countries in the world, having weathered the storms and baptism of fire, gaining independence at the beginning of this century. It is also one of the least developed countries in the world recognized by the United Nations, and nirvana has been reborn, and the country's development faces both heavy tasks and great vitality.
Historically, Timor-Leste has always been a good neighbor across the sea from China. Ancient Chinese books record that as early as the 13th century, during the Southern Song Dynasty, the two sides had trade exchanges, and the Ming Dynasty navigator Zheng He visited Timor Island seven times in the West. The friendship between the two peoples can be described as long-lasting and continuous. In modern times, East Timor has been subjected to colonization and oppression by foreign forces. East Timor has made great sacrifices in the struggle for independence and liberation. China firmly supports East Timor's just cause of pursuing independence and liberation. East Timor gained independence in May 2002, and China was the first country to recognize its independence and establish diplomatic relations with it.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has always regarded The East as a friendly neighbor, the political mutual trust between the two sides has been continuously strengthened, and economic and trade cooperation has continued to develop. In 2014, when the leader of the Former Eastern Independence Movement and then Prime Minister Xanana visited China, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang met and talked with them separately, and the two sides announced the establishment of a comprehensive cooperative partnership of good-neighborliness, friendship, mutual trust and mutual benefit. In 2017, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to join China's "Belt and Road" development initiative and attended two consecutive summit forums held in China. China and Timor-Leste have carried out extensive cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, health, education and peacekeeping, and the "one (electricity) network", "one road" and "one port" that China helped build are examples of the two sides jointly building the "Belt and Road". In recent years, bilateral economic and trade relations have maintained steady development, forming a new situation of mutual benefit and win-win results with bilateral trade as the core, project contracting as the highlight, and development assistance as the support, and China has become one of the most important trading partners in East Timor.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have always shared hardships and hardships and watched over each other. China actively supported its post-war reconstruction and restoration, aided the construction of landmark buildings such as the Presidential Palace and the Office Building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and dispatched foreign aid medical teams for many years. In the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan, the East Government donated US$500,000 to the disaster area, which was the first time that Timor-Leste, as a least developed country, had donated to a foreign country. In 2020, when the local spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in Timor-Leste occurred, China was the first to lend a helping hand to the east and the first to send a chartered plane to urgently assist anti-epidemic materials. So far, China has provided 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 15 batches of anti-epidemic materials to the east. "Are you shirtless?" Fellow sons", these mutual assistance reflect the true feelings between the two countries.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Timor-Leste. Both sides should take this as an opportunity to ascend to the heights and plan for the future. We should uphold the tradition of friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, work together for common development, and promote bilateral relations into the future.
"Hiss hiss, ask for his friends". China and Timor-Leste belong to the same Asia, share the same Asian cultural traditions, have profound historical origins, and have similar experiences in striving for national liberation and national independence, which have condensed the friendship between us in the past and are also the precious wealth and foundation for our future development of the two countries. The two sides should carefully care for and cherish, promote friendship, treat each other as equals, learn from each other, take care of each other's core interests and concerns, deepen strategic communication and political mutual trust, tighten the humanities ties, strengthen high-level interaction, and consolidate the foundation of public opinion. In today's chaotic world, we should do a solid job in the friendly relations between the two countries and jointly promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Development is the last word. China and Timor-Leste are both developing countries, both have the common desire to achieve economic development and people's happiness, both face the important task of developing the economy and improving people's livelihood, and there is huge room for cooperation on the issue of development. Timor-Leste, in particular, as a least developed country, has a very heavy task of poverty alleviation. China has very good experience in economic development and poverty alleviation, which is suitable for developing countries to learn from. It is worth mentioning that President Xi Jinping put forward the global development initiative at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. This initiative focuses on the special needs of developing countries and focuses on poverty reduction, food security, financing for development, anti-epidemic and vaccines, industrialization and connectivity as key areas of cooperation, which is highly in line with Timor-Leste's concerns about poverty reduction, anti-epidemic, agriculture and infrastructure construction. China looks forward to Dongfang's support and participation in the global development initiative, strengthen the docking of each other's development strategies, create new growth points for pragmatic cooperation, continuously consolidate and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and continue to promote high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" to help The East develop better and faster. China is also willing to continue to provide development assistance to the East within its capacity to increase the sense of gain and happiness of the people in the East.
There is a well-known saying in Timor-Leste: "Unity is victory". Let our two countries unite and work together to forge ahead and strive to push the comprehensive cooperative partnership of bilateral good-neighborliness, friendship, mutual trust and mutual benefit to a new height. "Climbing the mountains is small, the sky is flat", I believe that Middle East relations will usher in a better future.