On Sept 16th, H.E. Ambassador Ren Gongping published an article named “I would like to make friends with you” on major newspapers, to summarize Prime Minister Hon. Gaston Browne’s recent visit to China. The full text is as follows:

“I would like to make friends with you”

                                                                                                          --Prime Minister Hon. Gaston Browne’s successful visit to China

    Hon. Prime Minister Gaston Browne has just concluded his official visit to the People’s Republic of China as the head of government of Antigua and Barbuda.

“Tremendous Success”

    From the firm hand shake with President Xi Jinping to the 19 gun salute and review the guard of honor; from the talks with Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing to the various meetings with the Chinese companies; From the closing ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing to the discussions with Chinese entrepreneurs, the visit by Prime Minister Browne and his delegation deemed a tremendous success.

    During his visit, Prime Minister Browne met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and had talks with Premier Li Keqiang, attended the closing ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing and visited one of the economic power houses of China--Shandong Province. Other than that, he also held extensive meetings with the business communities in China, especially companies in the field of infrastructure, information technology, renewable energy, trade, etc. The visit laid very sound foundation of the future cooperation between the two countries. Leaders of both sides signed a series of agreement, decided that the two countries should boost cooperation in infrastructure construction and new energy, expand educational and cultural exchanges, and increase youth-to-youth communication to deepen mutual understanding in the future.

    “I would like to make friends with you”

    “I would like to make friends with you”, this is not diplomatic words in a meeting. This is a heartfelt emotion expressed by President Xi, on behalf of the 1.3 billion Chinese people. We see all the countries are equal and believe in true friend of international relations. President Xi showed his unique character based on the principles of China’s foreign policy. We uphold and practice the concept that every country, regardless of size, wealth or strength, is equal in international affairs; We value the friendship we enjoyed over the years; we still remember that a friend in need is a friend in deed. In the 1970s, it was by the collective efforts of the so-called “poor African friends” that China regained its membership in the UN. It was Antigua and Barbuda that led the trend of recognition of the People’s Republic of China in the early 1980s within the Eastern Caribbean region. So, as a natural outcome, we see the scale and the quality of our cooperation greatly improved over the past years, and we landed on the signing of bilateral cooperative documents concerning such areas as economy, technology, health care and addressing issues of climate change during Prime Minister’s visit, because we recognize those as fundamental areas to the development of Antigua and Barbuda, a true friend of Chinese people.

    When I saw the smiles of my Premier and Prime Minister Browne while they were talking and the laughter burst when Premier Li was introducing the Chinese officials, I say, diplomacy is not all about formal meetings, ties, suits and protocol. It is also about personal relations and the yearning for a closer relation between two splendid cultures. China has emerged as an responsible and dynamic partner in the world stage in recent years, we vow to be strong, to be a strong advocate of the benefits of all the developing countries, we vow to be aggressive, aggressive in tackle the beast of underdevelopment faced by all mankind and we vow to develop, to develop a more equal and harmonious world. On our way to realize further prosperity, we are fortunate to have friends like Antigua and Barbuda by our side, and that, is something this visit has undeniably demonstrated.

“Tomorrow starts today”

    The leaders of both countries have drawn the blue print of the future cooperation; I believe we can move forward in three directions.

1. Strengthen the high level exchanges. As demonstrated through the visit, high level exchanges provide great opportunities for both sides to better understand each other and expedite the all-round cooperation.

2. Enhance the cooperation in the area of infrastructure. We recognize the enormous influence of the infrastructure to a developing nation and the importance to local economy and people’s daily livelihood, however, the infrastructure is sometimes considered the most difficult work, we need to work together to find creative ways to make it financially sustainable for countries like Antigua and Barbuda.

3. Boost people to people exchanges. The principle impetus of friendship comes from our people. Education and culture exchange is something we are exploring. We should encourage more communication between our two peoples, cultural exchange, simplified visa procedure and tourism cooperation would be a good start. Here is good news, most likely, a Chinese delegation of martial art and acrobatics will visit us early next year. I believe no more advertisement needed this time.

    There is not enough time for us to slowly digest the fruitful results of this visit, the development of Antigua and Barbuda and the friendship we have enjoyed for the past 31 years, has to move to another phase in a timely manner. Over the years, China has been trying to find a model to develop that best suited our own circumstances, with the collective efforts of all Chinese people, we seems working all right. I am impressed to see the various new plans of the government of Antigua and Barbuda to better develop the nation, so I say to all my friends in Antigua and Barbuda: Tomorrow starts today. We seize the opportunities and join hand in hand working for our better future.

    The official visit only lasted for a week, but the friendship of our two countries has a long way to go. I sincerely hope that this visit built another bridge for our two peoples to have more mutual respect, understanding and common language toward each other. I am fully confident that more excitement can be expected in the years to come.