Samoan PM visits Nanjing to step up agriculture, fisheries industry cooperation

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa on Thursday arrived in Nanjing of east China's Jiangsu Province, the second stop of her visit to China, with the goal of stepping up bilateral cooperation in agriculture and fisheries.

Mata'afa, who arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday before heading to Jiangsu's Taizhou City to begin a nine-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, is being accompanied by a delegation comprising of Samoa's finance minister and other foreign and trade officials.

The delegation toured an agricultural research center in Jiangsu, where the China-Pacific Island Countries Agricultural Cooperation Demonstration Center was unveiled last year.

The research center was jointly established back in May 2020 by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS).

Since the 1980s, JAAS has carried out cooperation projects with Samoa, Vanuatu, and other Pacific Island countries on vegetable cultivation and rice breeding projects, achieving remarkable results.

Samoa's economy heavily relies on agriculture and fisheries, and since the establishment of the cooperation center, agricultural collaboration with China has grown significantly.

During Thursday's tour, the Samoan delegation viewed a display showcasing the partnership's key accomplishments, such as the establishment of joint laboratories and technical support programs, aimed at boosting local farmers' productivity. The delegation was then presented with a variety of crops developed by the research center.

Discussions touched on plans to expand collaboration to foster the island country's economic development.

"Agriculture is one of our priority sectors back home for development. And we see similarities in the provinces that we have visited in China. And we are learning a lot from what we have seen, and also sharing the experiences with the officials here and the experts here and taking it back with us to help us develop our agricultural skills," said Lautimuia Uelese Vaai, Samoan Minister of Finance.

Over the past year, the institution has sent multiple delegations to Pacific Island nations, including Samoa, to advance agricultural technology cooperation projects.

"In Samoa, we conducted a survey research on their vegetable cultivation and livestock farming. During our discussion with the prime minister just now, she showed great interest in these areas, which will also be a key focus for our next phase of cooperation," said Yi Zhongyi, president of the academy.

Sampling the fresh produce, delegation members not only experienced the flavors of innovation but also gained fresh inspiration.

"In Samoa, we have lots of tomatoes but not this species, so maybe we should take some [back]," said Luamanuvae Albert Mariner, Samoa's ambassador to China.

"We are not used to this scale of greenhouses, so it's actually quite eye-opening," said Henry Tunupopo, assistant chief executive officer of the Samoan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Samoan PM visits Nanjing to step up agriculture, fisheries industry cooperation

The escalated Israeli military operations have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza Strip, with most humanitarian aid to people in multiple besieged areas denied, according to a report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday.

Since October 6, the Israeli forces have intensified military operations in northern Gaza. They recently entered the Indonesian Hospital, forcing medical workers to evacuate, said the report.

Al Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals, the only remaining functioning medical institutions in northern Gaza, have been hit recently as well amid urgent need for food and water provision.

The OCHA also reported that the Israeli forces have continued to impose a tightened siege on Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and parts of Jabalya, with humanitarian assistance largely denied by the Israeli authorities over the past nearly 80 days.

At present, around 80 percent of the Gaza Strip is under active Israeli-issued evacuation orders.

Thousands of people there have no access to food, water, electricity and health care, and millions are at risk of being left without shelter during the cold winter months.

According to data released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than 10,000 children in Gaza have been killed since the outbreak of the current round of the Israel-Hamas conflict, indicating that a Palestinian child is being killed every hour by Israeli troops, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

In addition to the threat to their lives, the surviving children in the Gaza Strip have been deprived of the opportunity to study and have to struggle to survive in the ruins, with their physical and mental health seriously harmed.

Those children in Gaza are losing their lives, their future and their hope, said the statement.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against an attack by the former on the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip had risen to 45,338, with 107,764 others injured, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

Escalated Israeli military operations exacerbate humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza: OCHA