Lukashenko invited China to use Belarus to promote its interests in European region
During today’s meeting with Hao Ping, the Secretary of the CPC Peking University Committee, and representatives of other Chinese universities, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko invited China to use Belarus to promote its interests in the European region. The Belarusian leader appreciated the fact that the visit takes place on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Belarus’ liberation from Nazi invaders, and the Chinese military will also take part in the parade in honour of the anniversary date.
“We’re very grateful to you for always responding to our requests and taking part in various cultural events. We won’t leave a favour unanswered. Today we’re preparing a very serious programme with which our youth will come to China and present Belarusian and the entire Slavic culture in the People’s Republic of China. I think we’ll do it in the near future,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The President also spoke about the prospects for developing co-operation in sports, “We’re very keen to quickly implement our project, which we agreed on in Beijing, and build a sports centre at Peking University with the help of Belarus. I’m convinced I’ll find time to come to you once again and present Belarusian sports, including hockey, at a higher level. We want to liaise with you, we want the Chinese to play hockey at the level of world teams, although you have already started doing this very seriously. You are participating in the Russian KHL Open Championship. We’re also playing in this league. But we would like to leave a more serious mark on the development of China’s culture and sports.”
The President underlined that he had known Chinese President Xi Jinping for a long time, even before he held the highest state post in China. According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, they talked a lot about the global prospects. The Head of State also recalled one of his key theses, “I told him that China would soon become a power that will set the tone in the world.… Today, no one doubts this anymore. I’m very pleased, I often say this, that when I visited China for the first time as a deputy, I came to parliament and said that the future belongs to China. Back then, no one believed in it, but today I turned out to be right. Since I became President – for three decades now – we have been carefully building our mutual friendship step by step.”
The President noted that the leaders of the two countries have good relations. China invests a lot in the Belarusian economy, including in those areas where we do not have technology. The Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation (BNBC) is a good example of this. China also helps us a lot in the field of defence and security.
“It’s not a secret. We’re working together on many issues,” the Head of State noted.
Aleksandr Lukashenko also mentioned the agreement with Xi Jinping on China’s use of Belarus to promote its interests in the European region, “China is a giant country that sets the tone in the world. Therefore, it must liaise with the main centres, the pillars of our planet: the US, the EU, Russia, India and other countries. Therefore, we’re ready to provide you with all possible support in your interests when promoting them to the EU.”
According to the President, education and science should not lag behind these processes.
“Let’s think not just about inter-university co-operation, let’s think about creating a global educational and scientific platform in Belarus in order to spread education, science, and culture to the European continent. We’re ready to play a serious role in this regard,” the Belarusian leader emphasised.
According to the Head of State, time plays a very important role now.
“It’s necessary to do everything quickly in order to be a leader, in order to achieve some results. So, if your co-operation with our universities, the Education Ministry, and the Government develops, you can fully count on Belarus. You help us a lot in politics and economy; I think it’s time to bring education and science here. Therefore, your visit is very important in this regard,” he added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko asked Hao Ping to convey his warm words of gratitude to Xi Jinping. At one time, the two leaders discussed in detail the topic of developing co-operation in science and education. The President of Belarus promised to inform his Chinese counterpart through his own channels about the visit of a rectors’ delegation from China. The President assured the guest, “Your good endeavours in Belarus will receive the same kind response from our country.”
The Head of State once again thanked the members of the delegation for coming in the year of the 80th anniversary of Belarus’ liberation from fascism, “Our republic has lost every third person in this war. Every third resident died. Our country, the Soviet Union, lost 30 million people in this war. Just like you, you also lost 30 million people in the fight against Japanese imperialism. A huge number. Therefore, the history of China and Belarus of the last decades, of the last century are very similar. I think we’ll use this legacy for the sake of the future.”
