Chinese FM holds phone conversation with Venezuelan FM

BEIJING - Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia Monday on the sidelines of the general debate of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Wang said that the long-standing China-Venezuela comprehensive strategic partnership has stood the test of the shifting international landscape and maintained a strong momentum of development. Both sides have been committed to mutual understanding and trust.

He said China thanks Venezuela for supporting its efforts in safeguarding its legitimate interests and opposes the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the United States.

China has always believed that the Venezuelan issue should be resolved by the Venezuelan people themselves through dialogue within the framework of their own constitution and laws, Wang said, adding that China will continue to firmly support Venezuela in safeguarding national sovereignty, dignity as well as legitimate rights and interests.

China believes that the Venezuelan people will finally emerge victorious from the battle against foreign interference, sanctions and hegemony, Wang said.

He noted that China stands ready to continue promoting practical cooperation with Venezuela in various fields on the basis of the principles of equality, mutual benefits, win-win cooperation and common development, and will continue to support Venezuela in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang said China is willing to work with Venezuela to cope with the profound changes unseen in a century, enhance unity and cooperation, safeguard international equity and justice, and lift the China-Venezuela comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

Noting that China-Latin America cooperation has maintained healthy and stable development, Wang said China attaches great importance to cooperation with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and will fully implement the spirit of Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech to the 6th Summit of Heads of State and Government of CELAC to continue maintaining close communication and coordination with Latin American and Caribbean countries in areas such as vaccine cooperation and economic and livelihood recovery, give full play to the role of the China-CELAC Forum, inject new vitality into deepening and substantiating China-Latin American cooperation as a whole, and jointly build a China-Latin America community with a shared future.

Against the backdrop of changes unseen in a century, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sluggish recovery of the world economy, Xi proposed solemnly the Global Development Initiative, calling on the international society to pay attention to development issues and inject fresh momentum to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Wang said.

The proposal of the important initiative is well-timed and reflects the common aspiration of the developing countries, Wang said, adding that active participation from all sides is welcome, in order to push for a global consensus.

For his part, Plasencia congratulated the Communist Party of China on its brilliant achievements yielded in the past 100 years since its founding, saying that Venezuela firmly supports China to safeguard its sovereignty and oppose external interference in its internal affairs, and is ready to enhance coordination and cooperation with China to uphold justice in the international community.

Plasencia thanked China for its strong support for Venezuela in fighting COVID-19, and expressed the willingness to actively take part in the building of the Belt and Road and to jointly promote further development of the bilateral ties to bring more benefits for the two peoples.

Venezuela fully supports Xi's proposal of the Global Development Initiative, Plasencia said, adding that his country is willing to work with China and other Latin American countries to successfully hold the Third Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum, to further advance Latin America-China cooperation.