Beijing and Vientiane pledge 'unbreakable' joint efforts
Updated: 2016-05-04 08:01
By Li Xiaokun And Wang Qingyun(China Daily USA)
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China and Laos pledged on Tuesday to build an "unbreakable" community of joint destiny.
The promise was made during the first visit to China by the Southeast Asian country's new president, two weeks after his inauguration.
The visit also comes 10 days after Laos said it understands China's stance on the South China Sea issue.
"Your visit to China, soon after you assumed office as to pleader...fully reflects the high importance the Laotian Party, government and yourself attach to bilateral ties,"President Xi Jinping told Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith.
He was elected as president on April 20 and is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.
Xi said good relations between the two countries have endured for the past 55 years. Beijing expects to work with the new Laotian leadership to "forge an unbreakable community of joint destiny", he said.
Xi said both countries should align China's Belt and Road Initiative with the Laotian strategy of turning the land locked nation into a land-linked one.
China fully supports the work performed by Laos as the rotating president of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, Xia dded.
Bounnhang Vorachith thanked Xi for his congratulatory letters and for sending a special envoy to Laos after he was elected general-secretary in January.
"It was a huge encouragement and support to the Laotian Party and myself," he said.
The two leaders witnessed the signing of 10 cooperation documents, including Chinese loans for key infrastructure projects in Laos.
Wang Yuzhu, who researches Southeast Asia at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said:"It is natural for the new Laotian president to visit China right after assuming office. China is a very important country, maybe the most important one, in Laotian diplomacy."
During a visit to Laos by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on April 23, Beijing and Vientiane reached consensus that disputes over some of the Nansha Islands and reefs are not an issue between China and ASEAN, and should not affect the development of these relations.
A ruling by an international arbitration body in a process launched unilaterally by the Philippines challenging China's territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea is expected within weeks.
China has said repeatedly it will neither accept nor take part in the process.
Contactthewritersatlixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily USA 05/04/2016 page3)
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