China, Cambodia to further enhance ties, cooperation in various fields

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn met here on Sunday, and both sides pledged to further enhance relations and cooperation in building the Belt and Road and other fields.

They met on the sidelines of the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held on July 4 in Bagan, Myanmar.

While praising the all-around cooperation between China and Cambodia is at the forefront of China's relations with other regional countries, Wang said that under new circumstances, China is willing to work with Cambodia to further implement the strategic consensuses reached between their leaderships, strengthen communication, and deepen cooperation, so as to do a good job in solidifying the China-Cambodia community with a shared future, and to celebrate the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2023 with more visible results.

China, as a close strategic partner, will continue to stand firmly with Cambodia and support its political stability and economic development, Wang said.

For his part, Sokhonn said Cambodia speaks highly of the China-proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI) and Global Security Initiative (GSI), believing they will make significant contribution to global peace and development.

Sokhonn described the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership as strong, and said Cambodia will continue to firmly adhere to the one-China policy, and support China's stance on issues concerning Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang.

He said Cambodia hopes to maintain high-level exchanges and strengthen strategic communication with China, and celebrate the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2023 with more cooperation achievements.

During the meeting, both sides pledged to continuously advance the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Cambodia's development strategy, and achieve progress in related economic and infrastructure projects.

They also agreed to continue cooperation in fields including anti-pandemic, agriculture, environmental protection, technology, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Wang said China will deliver the remaining 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in time according to the need of the Cambodian side, provide other anti-epidemic supplies at an early time, expand the export of Cambodian rice to China, and increase direct flights between the two countries.

The two sides also held an in-depth discussion on China's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Wang said China fully supports the important role of Cambodia as the 2022 ASEAN Chair and is ready to work with ASEAN to adhere to the following "three upholdings":

-- Upholding ASEAN centrality to preserve strategic independence, maintain multilateralism and take hold of the leading power over regional security.

-- Upholding the orientation of win-win cooperation to fully implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and launch the building of Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area at an early date, so as to add more certainty and positive energy to regional peace, stability and development.

-- Upholding the principle of properly handling sensitive issues to maintain the key note of mutually beneficial cooperation, oppose initiating antagonism of camps and division in this region, and resist any attempt to turn the East Asia cooperation platform into a "wrestling ground" for major-country rivals.

Sokhonn said Cambodia opposes any external forces compelling regional countries to take sides and pushing for zero-sum mentality and geopolitical rivalry.

Cambodia is willing to work with China to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity of this region, Sokhonn said.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues related to Myanmar, the South China Sea and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation.