Visit to China exceeded expectations
President Díaz-Canel fulfilled an intense work schedule on Friday in Beijing, the fourth point of his international tour through Algeria, Russia, Türkiye and China
Author: Leticia Martínez Hernández | internet@granma.cu
November 25, 2022 23:11:37
DIAZ-CANEL
This visit is “an expression of the high priority and personal attention we give to our close ties of friendship and cooperation,” Díaz-Canel said, upon being received by Xi Jinping.
Photo: Alejandro Azcuy
Beijing , China.– President Xi Jinping described the ties that unite China and Cuba as an “exemplary case of solidarity and cooperation between socialist countries”, the first country in the Western Hemisphere, he recalled, to establish diplomatic relations with the new China.
In the segment of official conversations with the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Xi Jinping considered that the Island has always led the way in Latin America in the development of relations with China. Now we find ourselves, he said, at a new historical starting point. We are ready to continue working to deepen political mutual trust and broaden practical cooperation.
He spoke to his Cuban counterpart of “supporting each other on issues related to our respective interests and strengthening coordination and concertation in international affairs, with a view to advancing hand in hand on the path of socialist construction with its own characteristics.”
In response, Díaz-Canel thanked the invitation for the visit, the first of a Head of State of Latin America and the Caribbean, after the successful celebration of the XX Congress of the Communist Party of China. “It is an expression of the high priority and personal attention we give to our close ties of friendship and cooperation,” he said.
He assured that he values very positively the theoretical and practical contributions of the leadership of Xi Jinping at the head of the Central Committee of the Party in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, which we consider a true stimulus for all progressive forces.
Díaz-Canel recalled that this meeting coincided with the sixth anniversary of the physical departure of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, “who highlighted your capacity and firmness as a revolutionary leader.”
The Cuban president explained to Xi Jinping the difficult economic situation the island is going through, due to the tightening of the US blockade and the global impact of the pandemic.
He spoke of the concept of creative resistance and the conviction that “we can get out of all these situations, overcome these adversities, even with an intensified blockade, and for that we also have the support of friendly countries like China.”
After these talks in the impressive Great Hall of the People, the Chinese and Cuban delegations signed several documents that aim to strengthen economic relations.
Among others, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba (Mincex) and the National Development and Reform Commission of China for the Establishment of the Coordination Mechanism for the Implementation of the Cooperation Plan for the Joint Promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Also another memorandum between Mincex and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China for the Strengthening of Economic and Commercial Cooperation. In addition to a political consultation plan between the foreign affairs ministries of both countries, an agreement on exchange and cooperation between the Communist Party of Cuba and the Communist Party of China; as well as the certificate of delivery of various donations in cash, medicines, medical supplies, food and raw materials.
On this day – marked by strong restrictions due to a resurgence of COVID-19 that kept the President’s visit under a closed epidemic bubble scheme – Díaz-Canel also held meetings with the president of the National People’s Assembly, Li Zhanshu, and the Premier Li Keqiang.
In the three meetings, I would later say in a virtual exchange with the members of the Cuban state mission in China (some 90 people), we found enormous sensitivity regarding the economic situation of the Island.
They spoke transparently, honestly, and we perceive a great commitment to the economic development of our country.
The President did not forget to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Chinese people, in the legendary Tiananmen Square, another sign of respect for this nation that, more than 13,000 kilometers away, continues to be a sister.
Díaz-Canel paid tribute to the martyrs of the Chinese people, in Tiananmen Square.
Photo: Alejandro Azcuy
THE RESULTS OF THE VISIT ARE SATISFACTORY
«The results have been satisfactory, I would say that they are above our expectations». This is how emphatic President Díaz-Canel was, when assessing the official visit made to China. It constitutes a tremendous show of support for Cuba at a time as difficult as this, similar to what we achieved in Russia, in Algeria, and in Türkiye, he said, in a meeting via videoconference, with almost a hundred Cubans that make up the mission state of the Island in the Asian nation.
This meeting, common in all trips abroad by the Head of State, had to be held virtually, due to the restrictions imposed in China due to a resurgence of COVID-19, which implied no contact with those who were left out of it.
The visit to China, Díaz-Canel reflected, was very important; among other issues, because we have a debt default based on the economic-financial situation of the country, especially since 2019, with the intensification of the blockade by the United States, the effects of the pandemic, the meteorological phenomena that have impacted, and the unfortunate accidents that we have had, all of which have generated a tense situation.
We had not had the opportunity to speak face to face with the Chinese government to explain, the president commented, although we have had communications of other types; but it is not the same when one can speak, when one can explain, when things can be understood from the sensitivity.
“There is enormous sensitivity in the Chinese leadership, and in particular in President Xi Jinping, of the situation in Cuba, and there is an express will in him, even with indications in official talks, that a solution must be found to all the problems with Cuba, regardless of the problems with the debt, and that this cannot be the reason that limits development. They are betting on the development of the country based on the cooperation that they can give us,” said the Head of State.
The way in which the Chinese side has treated these talks, he said, this projection towards our small country, is as if they were applying on a smaller scale the concepts that they are proposing from the Global Development Initiative.
They have projected this great emancipatory concept that everyone can achieve inclusive development with Cuba in the conversations we had. «And that is very encouraging, it encourages that there is a different treatment for a group of projects that are paralyzed with a high percentage of execution, that there is another type of treatment for pending projects, and that there is all the understanding so that a group of requests we make them official, and we propose what we need to seek help and follow a group of investments in Cuba. That’s exciting.”
The President spoke of a feeling of understanding of the reality of the Island, and of a willingness to support, even on issues such as the repair and maintenance of thermoelectric plants that had not been worked on as part of the agenda, but they also had an ear receptive.
«The result of the visit, from that point of view, has been very good; we speak very transparently, very honestly; I think that we were receptive on the Chinese side, and in particular from President Xi Jinping, who expressed himself in a very complimentary, very coherent manner, recognizing the resistance of the Cuban people, the way in which Cuba defends its conquests, and one perceives that there is a enormous commitment in it,” Díaz-Canel considered.
Now, he warned, our commitment has to be well fulfilled, how we do things well, how we take advantage of opportunities, how we are efficient, how we do not waste resources, and how we achieve adequate returns on investments, and how each time we are more serious and more effective also in the projects that we propose to continue expanding cooperation.
The Cuban president referred to three fundamental pillars in this cooperation: first, biotechnology; then the energy issue, particularly renewable energy sources; and, on the other hand, computerization and cybersecurity.
But they are open, he clarified, to the issues of food production, and we informed President Xi Jinping of the transformations we have made in the application of the Foreign Investment Law in domestic trade, and the importance we attach to Chinese companies can be present in Cuban domestic trade, both wholesale and retail. He also embraced that idea, he pointed out, now it is necessary to identify the companies that can do it.
All this disposition, warned the Head of State, must be specified in projects that really advance and are contributors. «We have to be very strict, very rigorous, very professional, especially when we are working with friends who are supporting us, who are taking a little away from them. We have to work with a sense of commitment, of ethics, that helps the friend to be sure of what we are doing,” he said.
Visit to China exceeded expectations
President Díaz-Canel fulfilled an intense work schedule on Friday in Beijing, the fourth point of his international tour through Algeria, Russia, Türkiye and China