Comoros: China's good brother in the Indian Ocean

Source: World Wide Web

In the Mozambique Strait in the western Indian Ocean and east Africa, there is a beautiful island known as the country of the moon and the country of spices, that is, the Union of the Comoros.

In July 1975, when the news of the Comoros people's independence from colonial rule reached Beijing, Premier Zhou Enlai immediately decided to recognize it and sent a special telegram congratulating the Comoros on its victory in the struggle to safeguard national independence and territorial integrity. In October, when the United Nations Security Council applied to the General Assembly to admit the Comoros as a member state, the representative of China took a clear position to congratulate the people of the Comoros on winning independence and firmly voted in favor. The day after the General Assembly formally adopted a resolution to admit the Comoros, China took the lead in signing a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations with the Comoros, opening up a special fraternity between the two countries for more than 45 years.

For nearly half a century, Sino-Kuwaiti relations have always been immersed in an atmosphere of friendly cooperation. The Comoros is located in the distant Indian Ocean, thousands of miles away from China, but this does not prevent the sincere friendship and selfless support of the People of Kosovo to the Chinese people. After Deng Xiaoping's death in 1997, the Government of Kosovo, upon hearing the news, decided to lower the flag at half-mast and mourn the nation for 7 days. In the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the Kuwaiti side decided to designate May 22 as a national day of mourning to express the condolences of the Comoros government and people for the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in China.

At the beginning of 2020, when the new crown pneumonia outbreak broke out in Wuhan, Comorian President Azali sent a letter to President Xi Jinping for the first time to express his condolences, paying tribute to the effective measures taken by China to curb the spread of the virus, and firmly believing that China will be able to defeat the epidemic with government efforts, people's unity and scientific response. The head of the Science and China Friendship Association ran all over the island's pharmacies and supermarkets, wanting to buy a box of masks to donate to the Chinese brothers, but returned empty-handed due to the shortage of materials on the island, and had to symbolically donate 100 euros to support China's fight against the epidemic. 100 euros may not seem like much, but in the Comoros it is equivalent to 2 months of income for the average local person. Xue Jiaqi, a Comorian international student at Jiangsu Vocational and Technical College of Architecture, was in Wuhan during the epidemic, and she was not afraid, but used her own song to cheer for Wuhan and cheer for China.

Sino-Kuwaiti friendship has highlighted its true feelings in the midst of hardships, and it has burst forth at key points. On all issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns, the Comoros has always upheld fairness and justice and has never wavered in its support for China. Vote for me with a wooden peach, and repay it with Qiong Yao. China has always supported and assisted the Comoros in its development. The Comoros Islands lack freshwater resources, so that the Comoros brothers and sisters can easily access clean water, the Niumaklee water supply project became the first project of China's assistance to the Comoros. In the 1980s, a team of Chinese water supply experts rushed to a remote foreign country to fight side by side with Comoros engineers and technicians, crossing mountains and thorns, and finally connecting the residents of 26 villages along the route with clear drinking water. At the completion ceremony, a Comorian technician involved in the construction said emotionally: "European experts instructed our workers to carry a piece of wood, while a Chinese friend let our workers lift one end of the wood and carry the other end themselves." "There are many similar stories between China and Science, and almost all major projects such as the Comoros People's Palace, the Radio and Television Building, the State Television Station, the Moroni Stadium, the airport, etc., all flash the figure of Chinese builders."

Until 2014, malaria was the most deadly disease in the Comoros. Because of malaria, many children do not live to be five years old, and adults are in poor health. Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine is determined to help the Comorian brothers and sisters change the status quo and specially develop a new anti-malaria plan. Chinese antimalarial experts traveled to the Comoros authorities and all villages, going door-to-door to disseminate antimalarial knowledge and distribute antimalarial medicines. The chinese brothers' sincerity eventually won the support of the department of health and won the trust of the people. The successful implementation of the project created a miracle in the history of global malaria and helped the Comoros achieve zero malaria deaths in just 10 years. Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the Comoros, the Chinese government, enterprises, non-governmental organizations and localities have donated anti-epidemic materials to the Comoros, carried out anti-epidemic experience exchanges, and fully supported the people of the Comoros in fighting the epidemic.

Abdullah, the first president of the Comoros, once said emotionally: "The Comoros is a small country, and there is nothing to export to China, we can only export friendship." "China-Kuwait relations can be called a model of equal treatment, solidarity and cooperation between countries large and small in the world. The friendship between China and Kuwait will certainly set sail at a new starting point and continue to step onto a new level. (Fei Yichu)