To open new era of building China-Cambodia community with shared future

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia Samdech Techo Hun Sen at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently met with Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia Hun Sen at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

The two leaders had in-depth exchanges on building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era and international and regional issues of shared interest, charting the course for future China-Cambodia relations.

The two sides agreed to jointly build a high-quality, high-level and high-standard China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era, develop a diamond cooperation framework with six priority areas, so that the impregnable ironclad friendship shared by people in both countries will be passed on for generations.

China and Cambodia are good friends with high-level mutual trust, good partners with all sincerity and a community with a shared future sharing weal and woe.

In April 2019, China and Cambodia took the lead in signing an action plan for building a community with a shared future. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, China-Cambodia relations have been gradually radiating with great vitality, and the building of a China-Cambodia community with a shared future has yielded fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples and making contributions to peace and development in the region and the world.

In the face of momentous changes and challenges in the world, the strategic significance of China-Cambodia relations gains further prominence.

Extending mutual support on issues concerning each other's core interests is the essence of building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future.

China reaffirmed resolute support to Cambodian people's choice of development path that suits Cambodia's national conditions, to Cambodia's endeavors to safeguard her independence, sovereignty, security, and development interests, and to steady advancement of important Cambodian national political agenda while expressing firm opposition to any foreign interference in Cambodia's internal affairs.

The Cambodian side reaffirmed her resolute adherence to the One-China Policy, stressing that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory as well as China's internal affair, which brooks no interference from any external forces. It reiterated her resolute opposition to interfering in China's internal affairs by manipulating Xinjiang-related issues.

Both sides concurred that while exploring human rights improvement, it is important to proceed from people's needs and real national conditions. Both sides expressed firm opposition to politicizing and instrumentalizing human rights issues, double standards, abusing democratic values to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign countries or provoking division and confrontation on the pretext of safeguarding democracy and human rights, or imposition of one country's will on others.

China and Cambodia agreed to develop a diamond cooperation framework with six priority areas including political cooperation, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security and people-to-people exchanges, which will inject important impetus into building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future.

The two countries will deepen strategic communication, enhance exchanges on governance and coordinate efforts on practical cooperation in various fields.

They agreed to deepen strategic synergy and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and Rectangular Strategies, accord a greater role to China-Cambodia Working Mechanism for Production Capacity and Investment Cooperation, and explore development of an "Industrial and Technological Corridor" towards the vision of developing Preah Sihanouk Province as a model of the multipurpose Special Economic Zone.

Together, the two countries will explore the establishment of a "Fish and Rice Corridor" centered on north-western Cambodia and the Tonle Sap Lake area, to develop modern ecological agriculture near the lake.

Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in hydropower, photovoltaics, and other clean energy sources, to explore green, stable and reliable energy cooperation solutions.

They agreed to enhance engagements between the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) at all levels, strive for closer coordination and cooperation in multilateral security affairs, and continue cooperation in the exchange and sharing of information between law enforcement officials, with highlights on countering transnational crime.

They will also enhance cooperation on tourism, scientific innovation, education and health, and work together to launch cultural heritage protection and restoration projects.

The diamond cooperation framework between the two countries will surely make the China-Cambodia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership even more prosperous.

The two countries are committed to building a new type of international relations and promoting global partnerships of equality, openness and cooperation towards a community with a shared future for mankind.

They recognize the common values for all humanity of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom and agree on the adherence to true multilateralism. They oppose all forms of hegemonism, power politics, unilateralism, and exclusive bloc politics which targets specific countries.

Xi stressed that development is not the privilege of a few countries. He said the act of power hegemony to engage in ideological confrontation, politicize and weaponize economic, trade, scientific and technological exchanges, push for "decoupling and breaking the chain," contain and suppress other countries' development, and ask regional nations to take sides, will not be supported by the people.

China stands on the right side of history and will firmly defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests as well as international fairness and justice.

Hun Sen said the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative put forward by China are of great significance to safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. Cambodia actively supports and participates in these initiatives.

No matter how the international situation changes, the two sides will unswervingly deepen their close ironclad friendship and develop win-win practical cooperation for the mutual benefits, with a view to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and contribute more positive energy to regional peace, stability and development.