Side Events
CCTV: We noted that President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and delivered a keynote speech titled “Uphold the Tradition of Always Standing Together and Jointly Build a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era”. Could you share more details with us?
Zhao Lijian: President Xi Jinping’s attendance and keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), a highlight of the event, has been closely followed by the Chinese and African people and the international community. In his speech, President Xi took stock of the historical achievements China and Africa have made since the start of diplomatic relations 65 years ago. He also summarized the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, which features sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefit and common development, fairness and justice, progress with the times, and openness and inclusiveness. He gave a positive appraisal of the cooperation outcomes since the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit, and made four proposals for building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, including fighting COVID-19 with solidarity, deepening practical cooperation, promoting green development, and upholding equity and justice. He also announced that China will work closely with African countries to implement nine programs in the next three years to come, which are related to medical service and health, poverty reduction and agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building, cultural and people-to-people exchange, and peace and security. He also called for joint efforts to promote and carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and build a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
President Xi’s speech provided a strategic plan and overarching design for China-Africa cooperation in the future and drew up a blueprint for China-Africa friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in the new era, winning appreciation and acclaim from African countries and people. China will implement the solemn pledges made in President Xi’s speech and work with the African side to follow through on the consensus of our leaders and the FOCAC meeting outcomes and further deepen and substantiate the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Beijing Daily: According to recent media reports, Belarus’ State Border Committee found bodies of two refugees and traces of a corpse covered in wounds being dragged from Lithuania’s territory across the border and accused Lithuanian border guards of deliberate murder. Other reports say that the Lithuanian authorities dragged a refugee who was seven months pregnant to the Belarus side of the border and dumped her on the grass. Does China have any comment?
Zhao Lijian: The tragic fate of the refugees is heart-wrenching and outrageous. Two human beings will never see the sun tomorrow. What’s more grieving is that the reports you mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg of Lithuania’s human rights abuses. According to media reports, prison guards in Lithuania abuse inmates and wantonly use violence. Lithuanian history records massacre of Jews and today racism remains a grave problem in the country. Jews and other ethnic minorities suffer serious discrimination, with their rights of seeking medical treatment and traveling deprived and infringed upon. Children’s rights are gravely violated as well. The call-back rate of child protection hotlines is extremely low and there are not enough orphanages to house every orphan. Relevant reports by international organizations show that over 20 percent of sex workers in Lithuania are minors.
Lithuania’s deplorable human rights records violate relevant clauses of the European Convention on Human Rights and international human rights law. Lithuania should reflect deeply on its behavior and offer a responsible explanation to the international community.
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