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Wang Yi Tells CELAC: Build the BRI, Take the ‘Express Train of China’s Development’
21 January 2018
FROM EIR DAILY ALERT EIRNS—The title of the China-CELAC Forum (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) which will begin tomorrow in Santiago, Chile, "Working for More Development, Innovation and Cooperation for Our People: A Common Destiny—the Belt and Road," is most telling. As China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi explained in an interview published today in the Chilean daily El Mercurio, the message China wants to transmit to the representatives of the 33 Latin American/Caribbean (LAC) nations attending the summit is this:
After offering a detailed description of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), its motives and global success, the number of countries participating, projects underway, financing, etc. Wang elaborated on the idea of the two regions jointly building the BRI. First, he said,
(that is, develop as rapidly as China has) "and share the enormous opportunities, and dividends offered by this platform for global cooperation." Secondly, he pointed out that despite the great geographical distance, the LAC region was part of the Maritime Silk Road historically,
He emphasized that China cooperates with all nations of the region, regardless of their political persuasion. In Santiago today, the main activities consist of a meeting between Wang Yi and his Chilean counterpart Heraldo Munoz, followed by meetings between Wang Yi and Munoz with the four-nation CELAC leadership "quartet"—El Salvador, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. Tomorrow, following a plenary session, the foreign ministers will issue an action plan for the next three years and hold a press conference. |