Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said.
“We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.”
Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the EU takes a tougher stance on trade with China.
Photo: AFP
In Serbia, he aims to bolster economic and political ties with a country that has thrown open its arms to Chinese trade and investment. He is to finish up his five-day trip with a stop in Hungary, where Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stands nearly alone among EU leaders in drawing closer to China.
Xi said in a statement after landing in Belgrade that China-Serbia cooperation “serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both countries.”
He added that he looked forward to speaking with Vucic about relations between their nations “and other issues of mutual interest.”
His visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the deadly US bombing of the Chinese embassy during the 1999 NATO operation aimed at pushing Yugoslav troops out of Kosovo. That event, which the White House later called a mistake and blamed on faulty maps, triggered widespread protests in China.
On Tuesday, Xi vowed to “never forget” the bombing in an article published in Politika, Serbia’s oldest daily newspaper.
“Twenty-five years ago today, NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalists,” Xi said.
Chinese and Serbian flags fluttered along the highway leading to the city center ahead of the meetings yesterday, when the two sides were expected to sign as many as 30 agreements, the government in Belgrade said without elaborating.
Xi is to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway linking Belgrade to Budapest.
Direct Chinese investment in Hungary and Serbia exceeds US$15 billion with more coming, ranging from car battery plants in Hungary to copper mining in Serbia.
“We are completely open to Chinese investment,” Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Sinisa Mali told RTS shortly before Xi’s arrival. “China is one of the two biggest powers in the world, and Xi is the most important statesman coming to Serbia in the last several years.”
Additional reporting by AFP
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