Spanish queen visits Beijing Foreign Studies University

Spain's Queen Letizia, who is accompanying King Felipe VI on his state visit to China, visited Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) Thursday as part of her efforts to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

At the University, Queen Letizia met with students majoring in the Spanish language.

"I believe Her Majesty Queen Letizia's visit to Beijing Foreign Studies University shows not only her trust in our school, but also her strong support for the cause of education in China and Spain. Our university is China's first school to establish Spanish language education in 1952 under the guidance of the late Premier Zhou Enlai," said Jia Wenjian, president of the BFSU.

The current visit is the Spanish royal family's first state visit to China since King Felipe VI's enthronement, and the first by a Spanish monarch in 18 years. President Xi Jinping met with King Felipe VI in Beijing on Wednesday, with both sides pledging to strengthen cooperation in trade, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

"[For] the importance of the queen, being the representative of our country, coming here, I think it's quite important for the meaning of having this long time relationship between both [the two] countries, and to establish some cultural bridges for our future," said Gabriel Gonzalez Rodriguez, a master's student from Spain studying at the BFSU.

"This place is the first place that held [Spanish] language classes in China. So it's an honor for us to keep that legacy alive. Greeting the queen is not just a unique event, but also a way of keeping that bond between China and Europe alive," said Guestantonio Rodriguez Duran, another master's student.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Spain have deepened in recent years. China now hosts two Cervantes Institutes, while Spain has 10 Confucius Institutes. The Spanish language has been added to China's high-school curriculum, and more than 60,000 students in Spain are studying Chinese.

Spanish queen visits Beijing Foreign Studies University

U.S. President Donald Trump said he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after the alliance failed to join the attacks on Iran, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday.

When asked if he would reconsider America's membership in the alliance after the conflict, he said the question is "beyond reconsideration," adding, "I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger."

Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with NATO for "not being there," saying it was "actually hard to believe."

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump would make a decision on the future of NATO given the fact that some U.S. allies refuse to provide support, after the end of U.S. military operations against Iran.

Following Trump's criticism, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is not changing his position on the war.

Multiple European countries have kept their distance from the conflict with Iran. Starmer on Monday said his country will not get dragged into the conflict "whatever the pressure and whoever it's coming from," while Spain on Monday closed its airspace to all flights related to the U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran.

Trump calls NATO 'paper tiger,' considers withdrawal