China's top political advisor Wang Huning met with Boutsady Thanameuang, vice president of the Lao Front for National Development (LFND) Central Committee, in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss cooperation between the Chinese national political advisory body and the LFND as well as relations between their two countries.
Wang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said China stands ready to work with Laos, in keeping with the strategic guidance of the top leaders of the CPC and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and of the two countries, to add new impetus to their respective socialist modernization efforts.
The CPPCC National Committee is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with the LFND and contribute to building a China-Laos community with a shared future.
Wang also briefed the Lao side on the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee held in Beijing late last month.
Boutsady extended her congratulations on the successful convening of the plenary session, and spoke highly of China's great achievements in its modernization drive and important contributions to world peace and development.
The Lao side is willing to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two parties and the two countries, deepen cooperation across various fields with China, and continuously advance the building of a Laos-China community with a shared future, she said.
China's top political advisor meets senior Lao official on relations
At least five Palestinians, including three children, were killed late Sunday when a sand embankment collapsed at a displacement camp in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, raising fresh concerns over the perilous living conditions faced by displaced Palestinian families.
The deadly incident was triggered by recent heavy rainfall as the rainy winter season sets in. Several others were injured as large amounts of earth cascaded down, burying their tents. Local authorities warned that the danger remains high in and around these makeshift shelters.
Survivors recounted harrowing scenes of desperation as they scrambled to save their loved ones in the collapse.
"The masses of earth collapsed on us, burying my mother, my children and my sister beneath the tent. I managed to rescue my mother and children from under the sand. I also saved my brother, whose face was completely covered in sand. Thank God, he survived," said Abdel Karim Al-Sahhar, a displaced Palestinian.
However, not everyone was as fortunate. Mustafa Al-Masri, another displaced resident, described the agonizing lack of resources during the rescue efforts.
"When we arrived, we found this huge mass of mud had collapsed onto people. We had no lights or equipment to rescue them, including the children and a pregnant woman. We couldn't help them because we had no rescue equipment. We dug with our bare hands and pulled the children out dead," said Al-Masri.
The tragedy underscores the dire reality for the vast majority of Gaza's two million residents, who continue to live in fragile tent encampments or the ruins of bombed-out buildings.
With large-scale reconstruction yet to begin following Israel's three-year military assault, many families are now bracing for their fourth winter of coping with floodwaters that frequently overtake tents and soak their meager belongings.
Mohammed Abboud, acting head of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, warned that such disasters are likely to recur as long as aid supplies remain severely restricted from entering the besieged strip.
"This is a tragedy that could happen again every day because basic living conditions are lacking. We are talking about camps set up in dangerous areas, facing a harsh winter. The solution is to provide safe places and permanent mobile homes for people here, because tents offer no protection from the winter cold or the summer heat," said Abboud.
Rain-triggered sand embankment collapse kills 5 in central Gaza
