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
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS