Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store emphasized the need to "work together in international cooperation, secure living conditions" to tackle the pressing issues facing the international community.
In an interview with China Media Group on Tuesday on a high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai, Store, who was paying an official visit to China from Monday to Wednesday, shared his insights on easing geopolitical tensions and addressing political risks and challenges facing the world today.
"Norway does not have the size, the nature, or temperament to force anything on anybody. So we have to play our role as a responsible state, UN member, having active diplomatic relations with other countries. We try to promote solutions that can bring peace and stability. A small open country like mine will always suffer when there is insecurity, war and instability. And that's why precisely now I'm very concerned about the situation with the war in Ukraine. It has an absolute meaningless number of casualties, of people being killed. Every day there is an attack on infrastructure, hospitals, private buildings. It has to stop. And I hear from China that China is in favor of stability, being against threat of nuclear weapons, and all these issues are threatened by this kind of war because it is escalation," said Store.
Store stressed the importance of joint efforts from the international community to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
"What can Norway do? Well, we can tell our Chinese friends that we as neighbors of Russia, urge other countries to make what they can, do what they can to help this war end. And then, securing peace, it's a long term issue. You have to work on it day by day, and I believe that peace is not simply the absence of war. Peace is about human development and human opportunity that our children can educate, work and live. So we have to work together in international cooperation, secure living conditions -- that's the climate change agenda, fight poverty, provide renewable electricity to a growing population, but also stimulate education and research which is forward looking," said Store.
Norwegian PM on international cooperation in securing living conditions
A young Northern Irish student has shared the stories of her deep connection to Chinese culture during this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, which landed on Tuesday, highlighting the global reach of the many celebrated Chinese traditions.
In the heart of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Kiva, a second-year economics student at Ulster University, had been busy preparing various activities to celebrate the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival.
One of her top priorities was heading out shopping to buy some mooncakes, which are seen as the most representative specialty food of the festival which centers around family reunions and appreciating the full moon.
"So these are our eight delicious-looking mooncakes. They are beautiful. They're very tiny, keeping you fit," said Kiva, as she proudly showed off the box of her newly-purchased mooncakes.
After wandering around a local Chinese supermarket, she excitedly recounted her journey of learning Chinese and her fascination with the country's rich traditions.
"The most intriguing part for me was the calligraphy. It was definitely the characters. I really, really did love the characters. It was just very, very interesting to see, and to see that and see it made into an art form as well, where calligraphy is used as like a cultural aspect. It was just very, very beautiful and I wish that everybody had more interest in it, and wasn't really put off by how difficult it was," she said.
The difficulty of learning the language did not stop her love of Chinese characters. In her eyes, each character is vibrant and full of life, and she singled out the characters for "flower" and "love" as being her two favorites, saying that their complexity is what makes them beautiful.
Earlier this year, Kiva joined a university-organized trip to China, and was deeply struck by the stark contrasts between the bustling modernity of Beijing and the deep-rooted traditions of the central Hubei Province. However, the highlight of her whole trip was visiting the Great Wall, an experience she had long dreamed of.
"Going to The Great Wall was actually one of the things that I really wanted to do because none of my parents had ever been to China, so it was one of their things that they wanted to do as well, they wanted to see The Great Wall. So I think in the afternoon in China it's like 2 or 3 a.m. here, and I called my dad at at 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning, just because I wanted to show him The Great Wall," said Kiva.
Flipping through old photos, Kiva recalled her first connection with China as a child, when her mother bought her a traditional Chinese qipao gown during a shopping trip. During her recent visit to China, she also sought out another traditional outfit to wear and posed for a photograph to capture the moment.
"I think it's just one of those parts of the culture that you are just not going to get in any other part, like you can always do calligraphy anywhere else, right? You can always learn the language somewhere else, but having the opportunity to try on the traditional dress, when it means so much to the culture and it's people I think is very, very important to me especially," she said.
Northern Irish student shares love of Chinese culture during Mid-Autumn Festival
