Chinese Foreign Ministry's Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Deng Xijun made a shuttle-diplomacy trip to Cambodia and Thailand to facilitate talks between the two sides regarding their border clashes, the ministry said in a press release on Tuesday.
Deng visited Cambodia and Thailand for shuttle diplomacy from Dec 18 to 23, according to the ministry.
In Cambodia, Deng met with Prime Minister Hun Manet, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Seiha, and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army Mao Sophan.
In Thailand, he met with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Defense Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit, Supreme Commander Ukrit Boontanon, and Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Eksiri Pintaruchi.
Deng said that China is highly concerned about the border situation between the two countries, and is deeply saddened by the casualties and people displacement caused by the conflict, to which it extends its sincere sympathies.
The priority now is to stop fighting and resume dialog as soon as possible to solve the border dispute through peaceful means, he said.
China supports ASEAN's mediation efforts and supports the ASEAN observer team in playing an important role in monitoring the ceasefire, Deng said, adding that the Chinese side is willing to once again create conditions and provide platform for dialog and negotiation between the two sides.
China hopes that Cambodia and Thailand will work together to restore mutual trust and rebuild peace along the border, he said.
Both Cambodia and Thailand expressed gratitude to China for its consistent efforts to promote peace talks in a manner acceptable to all parties.
They reaffirmed their commitment to peace, expressed their expectation for a sustainable ceasefire, and pledged to maintain close communication with China to de-escalate tensions and restore peace and stability to the Cambodia-Thailand border region at an early date.
Chinese special envoy shuttles to mediate Cambodia, Thailand
Li Li, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from southwest China's Guizhou Province, has made it her mission to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the Buyi people, particularly their traditional clothing.
Born and raised in a village of Qinglong County, Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Li began learning the intricate handicrafts of the Buyi people from her mother at a young age.
After spending over a decade working away from home, she felt a strong calling to return and safeguard her cultural roots. In 2015, she returned to her roots to start a business with the vision to revitalize Buyi clothing.
"Starting my own business was really tough in the beginning. If you want to make a Western-style suit, you could just buy some fabric and copy an existing design. But ethnic clothing is different. It requires constant innovation, and that takes a huge amount of time. Traditional fabrics tend to fade, and I spent months just trying to figure out how to fix the color. This problem had kept me up for a long time. But eventually, I tackled the challenges one by one," Li said.
Her persistence has paid off. This year, Li's team tapped into the cultural symbolism of the Year of the Horse, creating a range of horse-themed products that have quickly gained popularity.
"This year is the Year of the Horse, so we created a lot of horse-themed items. They are very popular and orders have been pouring in. Every year, we design our cultural products and clothing based on what the market wants. We started with a 300-square-meter workshop, and now we have our own intangible cultural heritage center. Over the years, we've trained more than a thousand embroiderers," she said.
As a grassroots NPC deputy, Li prioritizes listening to the voices of ordinary people. During work sessions with embroiderers, she takes time to listen to their concerns and offers flexible schedules for those with special needs.
The preservation of ethnic clothing and culture has always been at the heart of her work.
"During this year's 'two sessions', I will continue to focus on the preservation of ethnic clothing and culture. I want to encourage more young people to get involved in cultural inheritance. For example, I've been going to schools to teach students because I hope that intangible cultural heritage can take root in children's hearts from an early age. I want them to grow up knowing how remarkable our ethnic culture is and to develop a strong sense of cultural pride," Li said.
The "two sessions" refer to the annual meetings of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Conference, China's top political advisory body,which usually convene in early March.
NPC deputy from Guizhou revitalizes Buyi culture through inheritance and innovation
