DURBAN, South Africa, Jan. 11– China will deepen cooperation with Somalia in economy, trade, security, defense, and other fields, leverage the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges to boost friendly ties, as well as consolidate and advance their strategic partnership, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.
During his visit to Africa, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when having a phone call with Somali Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali (Dhaay).
Wang asked his Somali counterpart to convey the warm greetings of the Chinese leadership to Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, saying that China welcomes Mohamud’s visit to China this year to attend the second China-Arab States Summit.
Stressing that China and Somalia enjoy a traditional friendship, Wang said that China firmly pursues a policy of friendship toward Somalia, and the two countries have always respected and supported each other.
The China-Somalia strategic partnership will not be affected by any temporary or isolated events, he added. China highly appreciates Somalia’s adherence to the one-China principle through concrete actions, Wang said, adding that China will, as always, support Somalia in safeguarding its national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, and opposes attempts by “Somaliland” to seek secession through collusion with the Taiwan authorities.
China’s diplomacy has always firmly stood on the side of developing countries, upholding fairness and justice and speaking up for small and medium-sized countries, he said.
Wang noted that China fully supports Somalia in assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council this month and stands ready to work with Somalia to jointly fulfill the responsibility of safeguarding international peace and security.
China believes that Somalia will achieve development and prosperity and build the Horn of Africa into a region of peace, development, and cooperation, Wang added.
For his part, the Somali foreign minister said Somalia highly appreciates that Chinese foreign ministers make Africa the destination of their first overseas visit each year.
Noting the traditional friendship between the two sides, he said developing relations with China is Somalia’s firm strategic choice. Somalia sincerely thanks China for supporting it in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, opposing all acts of separatism and terrorism, and assisting Somalia in achieving national stability and development, said the minister.
Somalia adheres to the one-China principle, considers Taiwan an inalienable part of China’s territory, and regards the Taiwan question as purely China’s internal affair, he said.
The foreign minister said that Somalia highly values the four major global initiatives proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with China across various fields, advance Somalia’s peace and development, promote lasting peace in the Horn of Africa, and jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity. (Xinhua)
