Red-carpet welcome: Sultan Ibrahim arriving in Beijing as a guard of honour mounted by the People’s Liberation Army stands at attention. Accompanying His Majesty is Sun (right). — Bernama
BEIJING: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia has arrived for a four-day state visit to China.
His Majesty, who ascended the throne on Jan 31, is making his maiden state visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.
The special aircraft carrying His Majesty departed from the Royal Malaysian Air Force Subang Air Base at about 9.40am yesterday and arrived at the Official Terminal, Beijing Capital International Airport at 3.30pm.
Accompanying His Majesty on the visit are Transport Minister Anthony Loke and Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
Tunku Temenggong Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, who arrived at the same airport in a separate aircraft at about 3pm, is also accompanying His Majesty on the visit.
Sultan Ibrahim was received at the airport by China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong, China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing, Malaysian Foreign Ministry secretary- general Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zain and Malaysia’s Ambassador to China Datuk Norman Muhamad.
His Majesty received the salute from a guard of honour mounted by the People’s Liberation Army.
His Majesty’s visit symbolises the robust state of bilateral relations between Malaysia and China that have continued to grow since its elevation to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2013.
During the visit, Sultan Ibrahim will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, followed by an audience with Xi and a state banquet hosted by the Chinese President.
His Majesty will also grant an audience to Premier Li Qiang and visit the Beijing COMAC Aircraft Technology Research Centre to observe the latest developments in China’s aviation technology.
His Majesty is also scheduled to attend the naming ceremony of the Chair of Malay Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University in His Majesty’s honour and engage with the Malaysian diaspora during the visit.
The visit also coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China.
Earlier, during a press conference, Norman said His Majesty’s state visit is highly anticipated by China.
He noted that this is the first state visit by a Malaysian King to China in 10 years, marking a significant moment for both nations as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
This is the second state visit conducted by His Majesty, with the first being a two-day visit to Singapore in May at the invitation of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. — Bernama
Face to face: Blinken (second left) meets with China’s top diplomat Wang
Yi (second from right) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. — AP
BEIJING: China and the United States announced an agreement to jointly implement the consensus reached at the meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, in November, and “effectively control differences and promote dialogue, exchanges and cooperation”.
The agreement was reached at the talks between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Analysts said the meeting on Sunday was the latest positive move for repairing the relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
The ties have remarkable bilateral and global implications and mutual respect remains the key to managing differences, they said.
Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning for his first visit to China as secretary of state.
“The two sides had candid, in-depth and constructive talks at length on the overall bilateral ties and important issues,” the Foreign Ministry said in a release.
The two sides also exchanged views on major international and regional issues of common concern.
Qin’s meeting with Blinken was the first of its kind between the two in their current capacities.
At the talks, Beijing and Washington agreed to maintain high-level exchanges.
Blinken invited Qin to visit the US, and Qin expressed his willingness to visit the US “at a mutually convenient time”.
The two sides agreed to encourage the expansion of cultural and education exchanges between the two countries and to actively discuss an increase in passenger flights between the nations.
They both will welcome more students, scholars and businesspeople to visit one another, and will provide support and convenience.
Speaking to Blinken on Sunday, Qin said that “currently, China-US relations are at the lowest point since the establishment of the diplomatic relations”, which is not in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples and the common expectations of the international community.
The two sides should fully implement the consensus of the meeting between Xi and Biden in Bali, and “work to stabilise and steer the relations back to the right track”, he said. — China Daily/ANN
We hope that after returning to the US, Blinken will comprehensively and objectively convey the information received in China, generating new momentum for stabilizing China-US relations, and never again leaving the impression that the US says one thing and does another.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, with
the aim of easing tensions between the two countries and helping steer the bilateral relations into a stable track.
Even as American officials, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are pursuing talks with their Chinese
counterparts aimed at stabilizing a bilateral relationship that is at its nadir, there is growing talk in Washington of letting a landmark
bilateral science and technology deal expire later this year.
During their meeting, both leaders discussed cooperation between China
and Saudi Arabia in the matters of science, technology, regional peace and other aspects of society.
Saudi Arabia rolls out red carpet for China’s Xi Jinping in snub to US, says analyst
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia to a lavish reception, a welcome seen as a not-so-subtle reminder to the United States that the Saudis can forge other alliances, analyst Nader Hashemi tells CNA’s Asia Now.
Xi, Saudi king agree to hold regular head-of-state meetings
The national flags of China and Saudi Arabia are seen on the street of Riyadh ahead of the China-Arab States Summit on December 7, 2022. Photo: thepaper.cn
A grand welcoming ceremony, high-level bilateral meetings and wide-covering investment agreements are among proofs that China-Saudi Arabia relations have been lifted to a new high.
On Thursday, President Xi Jinping and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud signed an agreement on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and also agreed to hold a meeting between the two heads of state by turns every two years.
Experts believed that Saudi Arabia's industrial diversification endeavor can be a perfect match for China's Belt and Road Initiative and its policy of developing high-tech industries. During the visit, Saudi and Chinese companies signed 34 investment agreements, covering green energy, transportation, logistics, medical industries and construction, local media reported.
In the welcoming ceremony held by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on behalf of King at the royal palace in the capital Riyadh on Thursday, Xi reviewed the guard of honor, who extended the most solemn welcome to the Chinese president with traditional sword-holding etiquette.
Cultural roots
This visit also witnessed the efforts of the two sides to enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. In a signed article published Thursday on the Saudi newspaper Al Riyadh, Xi said that "China and Saudi Arabia have admired each other and conducted friendly exchanges since ancient times. The prophet Muhammad said, 'Seek knowledge even if you have to go as far as China.'"
Such mutual respect has been carried forward to today. On Thursday China agrees to list Saudi Arabia as a destination for group travel and expand personnel exchanges as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two sides.
Experts believed that China-Saudi relations play a crucial role in boosting the relations between China and Arab countries, serving as an example as South-South cooperation. As the only G20 member among Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has seen its regional influence grow, playing a leading role in the affairs of GCC as more Arab countries are realizing that compared to China that promotes peace and development in the region, the US instigated conflicts and divergences, imposes extra geopolitical conditions in its cooperation with Arab countries.
A new level
Abdulaziz O. Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center in Saudi Arabia told the Global Times that China-Saudi Arabia relations is a good role model that can be expanded to different countries in the Middle East region, as the great relationship is based on mutual interests and non-intervention in the domestic issues from both sides.
"We will not interfere in the issues between the US and China. We will not take US' position when it comes to China. We think our relationship with China is extremely important, and extremely valuable," said Sager.
China and Saudi Arabia will reportedly sign a plan to harmonize the Kingdom's Vision 2030 with China's Belt and Road Initiative, according to people familiar with the matter.
"There is a lot of complementarities between BRI and the Saudi vision 2030," said Sager, noting this unleashes many opportunities for China and Saudi Arabia to have stronger ties. He expects the China-Saudi Arabia and China-Arab relations to move forward not only from an economic dimension, but to have a political dimension, saying the Arab countries are looking for more constructive engagement with China on regional issues that are of concern to them.
In the past, many Middle Eastern countries were seen as proxies of the West but are now trying to get rid of such identity by working on development on their own, seeking a balance in cooperation with major powers, Zhu Weilie, director of the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"China-Saudi strategic relations have now entered a new level covering many more areas, and the two countries share similar aspirations in the country's development and reform, especially in green energy and digital economy," Zhu said, adding that deepening cooperation is in line with their own development targets, and it's not targeting any third-party country.
Fahad Almeniaee, Director of the China and Far East Unit of the Riyadh-based Center for Research and Intercommunication Knowledge, told the Global Times that the relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China is a multi-faceted relations ranging from trade to culture. "Xi's visit has been successful by all standards," he emphasized.
Broader cooperation
Xi also met with leaders of several other regional countries, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahon, on Thursday.
Commenting on China-Arab States Summit, news site Middle East Eye said the goals of China and the Gulf are aligned in many domains, which means that the summit is only likely to produce new synergies. "It is a growing reality in the Gulf and it is likely that the summit will elevate these economic synergies to a new level and a possible free trade agreement, oil deals in yuan and membership of BRICS Plus would hugely strengthen Gulf-China ties and further challenge US hegemony," the news site said.
Xi's visit to Saudi Arabia came amid strained US ties with the Middle East country, some US media reports said, which also underlines Beijing's growing influence in the Middle East and draws "inevitable comparison" to a low-key welcome afforded to Biden when he visited Saudi Arabia in July.
Compared with relations between the US and Arab countries, China's relations with them are based on equality and mutual respect with honesty, unlike the US which brings ideological bias in its interactions with the countries, some experts said.
"And more Gulf countries understand that when the US mentions 'security,' it has become unsecure for them while China-proposed ideas promoting peace and development are much more welcomed," Wang Guangda, secretary-general of the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times.
China hopes to promote the benefits for people of the both sides rather than competing with the US in terms of the influence in the region or filling "vacuum" left by the US, Wang said.
China-GCC relations have achieved sound, steady and comprehensive development, staying at the forefront of China's relations with Arab countries. China has remained the GCC's largest trading partner for a long time.
In 2021, the trade volume between China and GCC bucked the overall downward trend and rose by 44 percent. And China-GCC relations have set a fine example of cooperation between China and other developing countries.
