Nauruan president sees transformative potential in China partnership

Nauruan President David Adeang said he anticipates the expedient completion of "transformational" development projects made possible through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the country's partnership with China.

In an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that aired Monday, Adeang shared his expectations for how the resumption of diplomatic relations with China in January may contribute to Nauru's development.

"We see great promise in partnering with China given its major stride in development brought about by China's modernization, particularly through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, and how we may align those with our own national development strategy," said the president.

During his first state visit to China from March 24 to 29, Adeang signed several cooperation agreements including agreements under the BRI, which aims to promote global connectivity through infrastructure building.

The Nauruan president noted that while these projects are still in their early stages, they are expected to bring about significant changes.

"It's early days now, but we are about to commence on major transformational projects in Nauru, regarding education, but particularly also in sports. I think we will start to see the results very soon, in line with President Xi Jinping's intentions to see early harvests in the bilateral relationship," he said.

"We expect transformational change in Nauru. The size of China, its technological prowess and its capacity to provide significant and modern development assistance to Nauru, can so easily turn Nauru into what development of progress should be in a small Pacific Island Nation," he continued.

Adeang also emphasized that the China-proposed Global Development Initiative aligns with Nauru's priorities. The initiative focuses on people-centered, mutually beneficial, innovation-driven, environmentally sustainable and results-oriented development.

"We see great promise in transforming our education, our schools for our children, the public health and of course curative health as well. But particularly also in sports, using sports as a platform to promote health for the people, particularly for the children of Nauru," the president said.

On the growing number of countries establishing or resuming diplomatic relations with China while adhering to the one-China principle, he underscored the importance of aligning with historical trends.

"We want to be on the right side of history. And we believe we will be on the right side of history by recognizing the one-China Principle and holding dear to it. We hope to further promote that in all our relations with other countries, particularly in pursuing our foreign policy," Adeang emphasized.

On Jan 15, the Republic of Nauru announced that it recognized the one-China principle and severed "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan. Several days later, China and Nauru signed a joint communique on the resumption of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, which made Nauru the 183rd country to adopt diplomatic ties with China.

Nauruan president sees transformative potential in China partnership

Nauruan president sees transformative potential in China partnership

Nauruan president sees transformative potential in China partnership

The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing on Friday morning with hotspots around the world and security cooperation taking the center stage.

The opening ceremony was attended by more than 600 official representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations, including nearly 300 heads of official delegations and officials from various countries. The forum is held with the theme of "Promoting Peace for a shared future".

China's Defense Minister Dong Jun attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. He first read out a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping to the forum. Then, he mentioned in his speech the current hot issues including the Ukrainian crisis and the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.

Dong said "there is no winner in a war and a conflict, and there is no way out if we just confront each other." He also stressed that promoting peace talks is the only way out, and the fundamental way out.

Two plenary sessions were held after the opening ceremony. At the first session, participants exchanged views on "security cooperation and prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region", and official representatives from Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Fiji, Russia and Malaysia spoke at the meeting.

The theme of the second plenary session was "multipolarization and the direction of international order", and defense ministers or military generals from six countries including Cambodia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Iran delivered speeches.

The topics all focus on security hotspots. Participants include not only developing and developed countries, but also representatives, experts and scholars from the closely-watched countries such as the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.

In interviews, many participants said that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is committed to promoting dialog, exchanges and cooperation among defense agencies, militaries and international organizations of various countries, and is playing an active role in promoting regional security and stability and maintaining world peace and development.

The ongoing Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which runs until Saturday, will also hold eight parallel group sessions, focusing on themes such as the correct way for China and the United States to get along, European security trends and Middle East peace vision. This year, a new session on outer space security has been set up for participants to jointly discuss issues on outer space security governance.

Initiated in 2006, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a high-level security and defense forum in the Asia-Pacific with significant international influence.

11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opens with focus on hotspots, security cooperation