One of Liberia’s biggest donors and longtime friends is the People’s Republic of China, credited for a plethora of relieving national projects and interventions. China is probably the second biggest postwar development partner if not the first in terms of its contribution to this country’s recovery and development. Ambassador after another have, since the civil conflict, demonstrated in deeds and actions sincerity to Indo-Liberian relationship spanning for decades. The newest yet of Chinese envoy has arrived in the country, and in his first public statement released to the media upon taking office, Ambassador YIN Chengwu assures the Liberian Government and people that he is “ready to act as an envoy of sincere friendship”. See excerpts of Amb. Yin’s statement below:
Jointly Building a Global Community of Shared Future and Writing a New Chapter of China-Liberia Friendship Together
By Ambassador YIN Chengwu
As the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Republic of Liberia, I would like to convey the warm greetings and best wishes of the 1.4 billion Chinese people to the people of Liberia! I am ready to act as an envoy of sincere friendship, a bridge of effective communication, and a bond of practical cooperation between the two countries.
Liberia is not only the oldest independent democratic republic in Africa, but also a founding member of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (predecessor of African Union), playing an important role in the wave of decolonization in Africa. I am deeply honored to serve as ambassador to this country with a glorious history. What makes me even more excited and proud is that when I come to Liberia, it coincides with the 74th anniversary of the founding of PRC. I would like to take this opportunity to share with my friends in Liberia some thoughts on China and China-Liberia relations:
The Chinese nation enjoys a human history of millions of years, a cultural history of 10000 years, and a civilization history of over 5000 years. In the long history, Chinese civilization, along with other civilizations in the world, has made tremendous contributions to the development and progress of human civilization, and has also formed prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization. Since the founding of the PRC 74 years ago, China has made remarkable achievements in its development. In 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was successfully held, which mapped out a grand blueprint for comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization. China, at a new starting point, will continue to promote high-quality development and high-level opening up to the outside world. The economy is rebounding, and solid steps will be taken in scientific and technological innovation. The head of state’s diplomacy will lead China’s major country diplomacy to continue writing a new chapter. A stable and developing China injects confidence and strength into the turbulent world.
Chinese path to modernization is a socialist modernization led by the CPC, the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development. The implication of the success of Chinese path to modernization for Africa and the world is that it proves that developing countries can chart a new path to modernization by relying on their own national conditions, independence, solidarity and win-win cooperation, instead of resorting to war, colonization and plundering.
Promoting the building of a global community of shared future is the essential requirement of Chinese path to modernization. Ten years ago, in the face of the profound question raised by the world, by history, and by the times of “What has happened to the world and how should we respond?” President Xi Jinping creatively proposed the idea of building a global community of shared future. This Community is a world where the future and destiny of every nation, country, and individual are closely linked. We should share weal and woe, and strive to build our planet into a harmonious family. We should promote the building of a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, and clean and beautiful, and translate the aspirations of people from all countries for a better life into reality.
On September 26th, China released the white paper “A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions”, aiming to build broad international consensus and better respond to the challenges of the times. The white paper points out that the important concept of building a global community of shared future brings together the greatest common denominator of people from all countries seeking peace, development, and stability. It draws the largest concentric circle between countries with different cultural backgrounds and levels of development, transcending various outdated ideas such as zero-sum games, power politics, and Cold War confrontation, and has become the overall goal of China’s diplomacy as a major country with Chinese characteristics in the new era, a clear banner that leads the trend of the times and the direction of human progress. I believe that the white paper will deepen the understanding of the concept of building a global community of shared future among people around the world, and more effectively promote the international community to jointly create a better future for humanity.
China and African countries, including Liberia, are close communities with a shared future. China is comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization, and Africa is making every effort to build a new Africa that is peaceful, united, prosperous and self-improvement. Under the framework of the “the Belt and Road” initiative, the “Nine Projects” of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, China-Africa cooperation has yielded fruitful results. At the 15th BRICS Summit recently held in South Africa, President Xi also announced that China will launch the “the Initiative on Supporting Africa’s Industrialization”, “the Plan for China Supporting Africa’s Agricultural Modernization”, and “the Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development”. These three major measures cover the areas urgently needed for Africa to achieve modernization, and are a vivid manifestation of China’s practical support for Africa’s development.
Against the backdrop of the building of a community of shared future between China and Africa, the prospects for friendly cooperation between China and Liberia are broad and promising. Since the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2003, China-Liberia relations have maintained a good momentum. The Liberian government has reaffirmed in legal form its adherence to the One China principle, and the two sides have achieved fruitful cooperation in economic and trade, cultural exchanges, and other fields. Roads, office buildings, airports, as well as health, education, sports, information, agriculture, and other projects have made positive contributions to the economic and social development of Liberia. In fighting the Ebola and COVID-19 epidemic, China and Liberia stood together and helped each other to overcome the difficulties, demonstrating the strong determination of the two countries to fight the epidemic as one and the brotherhood of sharing weal and woe.
As the new Chinese Ambassador to Liberia, I will do my best to work together with all sectors of Liberia to enhance mutual trust and expand cooperation, promote and bring more investment, create a good environment for realizing our respective development vision, advocate for the establishment of a just and reasonable international order, stand firm in opposing the legacy of colonialism and hegemonism, firmly support each other in safeguarding core interests, write a new chapter in China-Liberia friendly relations and cooperation in various fields, and better benefit the people of both countries.
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