Timor-Leste's President Jose Ramos-Horta has said that ties with China are "exemplary" and "exceptional", expressing the hope that China will give greater technical support to his country in agriculture and water conservation.
In an interview during his just concluded state visit to China, Ramos-Horta said China is able to help tremendously with Timor-Leste's development of agriculture, which is a pillar of its economy.
"One word, I would use 'exemplary' or 'exceptional', [to describe] the bilateral relations between Timor-Leste and China. I hope, I believe we continue to expand based on the common understanding, wishes of the two sides, this relationship can expand significantly," said Ramos-Horta.
"My main interest and concern that is where China can help tremendously with know-how, expertise, experience, and it doesn't have to be with money, with cash, because we do have a decent sovereign fund derive from our small gas and petroleum revenues. But sometimes, one has money, but doesn't really know how to use this money, how to invest properly. So my concern has been, the request is for China to give us greater technical support to improve agriculture output, to ensure for us food agriculture sovereignty, to help us with water supplies, to help us with better seeds for agriculture, recover rainwater, (which) comes and then in full speed down the mountains and destroys everything along the way, into the sea with the top soil goes [going]. And so [there is the question of] how to retain this water for agriculture, for fish farming. And so China can do that with know-how," he said.
"President Xi Jinping completely agrees with that, ready to support more than in the past. It has been already [that] the agricultural support [is] going on in Timor-Leste right now. Soon after I spoke with the ambassador of China in Timor-Leste about studying water resources of Timor-Leste, Chinese engineers came right away, and they have carried out already engineering studies about water," said Ramos-Horta.
At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Timor-Leste's president paid a state visit to China from July 28 to 31. This is Ramos-Horta's first visit to China after he took office in 2022 and the first state visit by a Timor-Leste president to China since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2002.
Timor-Leste president says ties with China "exemplary, exceptional"
Timor-Leste president says ties with China "exemplary, exceptional"
Timor-Leste president says ties with China "exemplary, exceptional"
A perseverant mother has been planting trees on the barren mountains in Qufu City, east China's Shandong Province, to realize the last wish of her young daughter who unfortunately passed away over a decade ago. The beloved daughter once told the mother that she aspired to turn their homeland into a greener place during her lifetime.
Shu Ping, a 70-year-old retired teacher, has been planting trees on the barren mountains for 15 years. Covering an area of over 1,300 square kilometers and nicknamed "Norwegian Wood," the bioenergy plantation came from a promise between Shu and her daughter -- Yu Juan.
"After my daughter earned her master's degree, her university selected her for a two-year government-sponsored study program in Norway. She invited me to stay with her for over two months. She asked me, 'What is the best thing here?' and 'Where is the most beautiful place?' Just mother-daughter chitchat. I said, 'Norway's forests are amazing. They are so beautiful.' And she replied, 'If they are so beautiful, let's bring them back to our hometown in Shandong!' 'Great idea!' I said and we high-fived and it was settled," Shu recalled.
Yu Juan, Shu's daughter, had strong interest in botanical research since childhood. After graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, she was admitted to Fudan University's combined master-doctoral program. Upon completing her master's degree, she earned a government-sponsored scholarship to pursue further studies at the University of Oslo in Norway.
Returning to China in 2007 after completing her academic studies in Norway, Yu, driven by her vision to make her homeland more beautiful and improve the lives of local farmers, signed a contract to manage over 1,300 square kilometers of barren hills in Qufu, beginning the program of her oil-bearing bioenergy plantation.
The program will create a specialized forest system designed to produce biodiesel and substitutes for chemicals by exploiting the oils extracted from the trees and their seeds.
Unfortunately, Yu's efforts came to an abrupt halt two years later, when she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer at the age of 31.
After battling with cancer for over one year, Yu passed away in 2011, leaving her unrealized dream to her mother.
"I am doing what my daughter aspired to do and I am doing better than she could have imagined. I think that is what she deserves," Shu said.
In reality, the dream was hard to realize and Shu's first large-scale tree-planting efforts failed, leaving no more than 30 percent of the 400,000 saplings alive.
The perseverant mother was not defeated and after realizing that the soil and water conditions on the barren mountains are harsh, she began consulting experts and studying seedling cultivation techniques. Gradually, the survival rate of the saplings started to rise.
Besides, Shu also confronted challenges like uneven roads and exposure to sharp gravels as she works in mountainous regions.
"One time, the path under my foot was slippery with gravels and pebbles scattered everywhere. I tried to grab anything within the reach, but in the darkness, I grabbed something cold and slippery. It felt like a snake, so I let go of it and tumbled down, twisting my ankle," Shu recalled.
The lack of funding also troubled Shu's program with the costs, including land lease fees, seedlings, and labor, drained her family's savings in just a few years.
"The financial burden is the most challenging problem. If you want to plant more trees, you have to spend hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of U.S. dollars). At least, about 200,000 to 300,000 yuan (around 27,500 to 40,000 U.S. dollars) is required a year," she said.
In 2019, when Shu's tree-planting program was on the verge of collapse, a 74-year-old man, who learned about Shu's story by chance, insisted on making donation.
The kindness of Liu Xianggui, who donated a total of over one million yuan (137,300 U.S. dollars) to Shu's program, marked the beginning of Shu's story being known to more and more people, who started to joint her efforts to help realize her daughter's last wish.
"I gradually get to know more and more volunteers through the tree-planting program, and they help me with contacting more people and inviting them to join us. I said I had a pact with Yu Juan, and we wanted to move Norway's forests to Shandong, and they said the program should be named 'Norwegian Wood', the 'Norwegian Wood' in China," Shu said.
Under her persistent efforts, the volunteer group has kept growing. Over the past decade, they have planted over 600,000 saplings on the barren mountains.
"Previously, I planted trees for my daughter and later I planted tree for everyone. There are so many people who have helped me and my daughter with the tree-planting program. I think about how I can give something back in return. I will do more good deeds, plant more trees, and lead the volunteers to plant more trees. Their joy is my joy," Shu said with pride.
Mother plants "Norwegian Wood" in China to realize last wish of her daughter
