Xinhua News Agency
April 9, 2022

Chinese, Serbian FMs hold phone talks over ties

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday held a phone conversation with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic over bilateral ties.

Selakovic first conveyed sincere regards from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Chinese President Xi Jinping, expressing appreciation for Xi’s immediate congratulations to President Vucic on his reelection, wishing the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China a complete success, and expressing the belief that China will make greater progress in its development under the leadership of President Xi.

The Serbian side is proud of its profound traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with China and thanks China for firmly supporting Serbia in safeguarding its core interests, said Selakovic, noting that Serbia also firmly supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and opposes any attempt to split China.

Overcoming the impact of the turbulent international situation, the cooperation between China and Serbia has made steady progress, said Selakovic, noting that the two countries have engaged in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the Belgrade to Novi Sad (Beno) section of the Hungary-Serbia railway successfully opened to traffic, and the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries have achieved unprecedented results.

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China opposes external forces’ exerting political pressure on sovereign states or forcing other countries to take sides through coercion, he added.

China stands ready to work with Serbia to continuously support each other on international and multilateral platforms, including resisting attempts to politicize and instrumentalize human rights affairs, Wang said.

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Selakovic said that Serbia is firmly committed to upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and will not turn its back on its true friends, adding that China has always upheld a fair and just position in international affairs and actively promoted peace talks, which Serbia highly appreciates.

Wang stressed that under the current situation, the international community should be highly vigilant against the resurgence of the Cold War mentality and jointly resist attempts to split the world.