China-Serbia relations to embrace brighter future: Xi

China

China-Serbia relations to embrace brighter future: Xi

2024-05-08 18:58 Last Updated At：05-09 02:27

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China-Serbia relations are poised to embrace a brighter future.

Xi made the remarks while holding talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Prior to their talks, Xi was greeted by thousands of Serbians. Vucic also held a welcome ceremony for Xi.

"I’m glad to pay a state visit to Serbia at the invitation of President Vucic. It's been eight years since I visited beautiful Serbia last time. I would like to thank you and the Serbian government for the gracious hospitality and thoughtful arrangements," said Xi.

"As a Serbian proverb says, 'Mountains do not meet, but people always do.' Similarly, we Chinese say, 'Distance cannot divide true friends who are thousands of miles apart.' Mr. President has warmly invited me many times to visit friendly Serbia, and I am here today as promised. Good friends should meet and communicate more often," said Xi.

"Mr. President is an outstanding statesman with a strategic vision and a sense of historical responsibility. Under your leadership, Serbia has maintained political stability and enjoyed rapid economic growth. Serbian people's standard of living, Serbia's overall national strength and international standing have improved substantially. As a true friend and good partner of Serbia, China is delighted to see this. In the face of a complex external environment, risks and challenges, Serbia adheres to independence, firmly safeguards its national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and resolutely upholds international fairness and justice, winning broad respect from the international community," said Xi.

"The China-Serbia ironclad friendship has withstood the test of changing international landscape, and is rooted in a profound historical foundation, a solid political foundation, broad common interests and solid popular support. In recent years, Mr. President and I have met many times to conduct communication and exchange views on strategic and overarching issues concerning China-Serbia relations, and have jointly guided bilateral relations to realize leapfrog development and historic achievements. In particular, since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries in 2016, the bilateral relations have achieved richer connotations and continuous expansion, becoming a model of friendly relations between China and European countries. During this visit, we will sign a joint statement on deepening and upgrading the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership and building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era so as to open a new historic chapter in bilateral relations," said Xi.

"Standing at a new historical starting point, a brighter future for China-Serbia relations is unfolding. China will work with Serbia to adhere to the spirit of ironclad friendship, uphold and develop friendly China-Serbia ties, jointly safeguard the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries, pursue our respective national development and rejuvenation, and jointly advance the building of the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, so as to make new and greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind," said Xi.

At the invitation of Vucic, Xi is paying a state visit to Serbia, eight years after his last visit to the country.

Serbia is the second leg of Xi's three-nation European tour from May 5 to 10, which also includes France and Hungary.

Iranian president's helicopter makes hard landing in NW province

2024-05-20 02:22 Last Updated At：04:17

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday, state-run IRIB TV reported.

Raisi’s helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters which was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, to the provincial capital Tabriz where Raisi was scheduled to attend the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.

"On May 19 local time, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi made a hard landing in East Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. According to our investigation in Iran, the incident took place near the Varzaghan area of East Azerbaijan. From the live broadcast on Iranian national television, we can see that the entire area of the accident site is in a state of severe foggy weather, which caused great trouble to the search and rescue work. In addition to Iranian President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan Province, and other officials and entourage were also on the helicopter," said Li Jiannan, a CCTV reporter in Iran.

Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous terrain and the bad weather conditions.

Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.

Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed near the possible crash site.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.

Following the incident, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed his hope that President Raisi and accompanying officials would be able to return home safely, saying that everyone should pray for them. Iranian people do not need to worry, and the work of the country and the government will not be affected, he said.

Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, expressed concern over the developments and said they were ready to assist in search and rescue efforts.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the same day, saying that Türkiye is following the incident and hopes that Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other Iranian officials are safe and healthy. Türkiye has taken action to provide support for the search and rescue operation, the statement said.