Bridge of friendship
The goal for its people, mission to mankind key to CPC's success: Lao envoy
Editor’s Note:
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Laos. And China is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China ( CPC).
As China’s socialist neighbor, what is the key to the CPC’s success in the eyes of Laos? How does the nation evaluate the China- Laos relations over the past 60 years? And how will the bilateral ties be further developed? Global Times reporter Yao Lijuan ( GT) interviewed Lao Ambassador to China, Khamphao Ernthavanh ( Ernthavanh), on a range of issues including CPC’s100th anniversary, bilateral relations, and much more.
Decoding China through CPC’s history
GT: This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China
( CPC). As a senior Lao diplomat, what’s your impression of the CPC?
Ernthavanh: I’ve joined in a series of activities held by the
CPC and the government of
China to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC.
I traveled to Jiangxi
Province where there is an abundance of red resources and visited Jinggang Mountains, known as “the cradle of the Chinese revolution” and
Ruijin, where the Provisional
Central Government of the
Chinese Soviet Republic was located, and also the starting point of the Long March. I also joined with ambassadors to China from 16 countries to attend exchange activities under the theme of “review the history of CPC, and continue traditional friendship” organized by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.
Participating in these activities makes me deeply understand the history of the CPC, that the Party is the vanguard of the Chinese working class, the Chinese people, and the Chinese nation. It is the leadership core for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and represents the development demands of China’s advanced productive forces, which represents the fundamental interests of most people in China.
GT: What do you think is worth learning from the CPC’s century- old development experience? Ernthavanh: The CPC uses Marxism- Leninism and combines the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s practical realities and constantly pursues a path that is suited to China’s national conditions, taking Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guides to action which leads to the country’s historic progress in economic and social development. China has completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects on schedule and embarked on a new journey toward becoming a modern socialist country.
China’s historic achievements have proved that China’s socialist path with its own characteristics is the right path for the development of contemporary China and the Chinese people firmly advocate for the leadership of the CPC.
I warmly congratulate the CPC on its 100th anniversary and highly value the great achievements made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. And I strongly believe that the CPC will lead the Chinese people to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation successfully.
GT: In recent years, some Western media and politicians have viciously attacked the CPC, trying to discredit it. What’s your view on that? Ernthavanh: I do believe that people will gain a better understanding of the history of the CPC and gain a deeper understanding of the reasons for China’s current development, achievements, and status as a major country in the world. The CPC has always taken the people’s aspiration for a better life as its goal and the new and greater contributions to mankind as its mission.
The Party and the government of the Lao PDR highly value the positive contributions made by the CPC to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. The Lao PDR is ready to deepen its comprehensive strategic cooperation with China, expand friendly exchanges in various fields, and promote sustainable development in building the Laos- China community with a shared future to jointly promote world peace and development.
GT: This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Laos as well as the Year of China- Laos Friendship. How do you evaluate today's China- Laos relations? Ernthavanh: This year marks a very significant milestone on enhancing the bilateral relations for the new chapter.
I am highly delighted and positive about the long- standing traditional bilateral relations between the two parties, two governments, and peoples of the two countries, which have grown continuously, strongly, and have reached a new level as entering the best period of history.
Despite the difficulty of the COVID- 19 pandemic outbreak globally,
Lao PDR and the People’s Republic of China maintained close highlevel inter- party and governmental exchanges. Our top leaders keep the momentum of cooperation via new platforms of exchanges, providing a favourable atmosphere to promote political cooperation and advance mutual tasks between our two countries.
Lao PDR has always cherished the Laos- China friendly relations and is willing to carry forward longstanding traditional friendship with China, deepen pragmatic cooperation as the comprehensive strategic partnership and make concrete progress in building the Laos- China community with a shared future.
GT: At present, China and Laos have expanded new cooperation in new areas such as petrochemical and beef export. In what key areas will Laos continue to promote cooperation with China?
Ernthavanh: As you are aware, the cooperation between the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the People’s Republic of China has expanded and strengthened in many new areas in this new era. During the difficulty of the COVID- 19 pandemic outbreak, Lao PDR and China have supported each other in public health cooperation. The government of China provided assistance and support to Lao central and local authorities, such as provided Laos with 2 million doses of the COVID- 19 vaccine and sending medical experts from China to join the prevention and control efforts.
Lao PDR together with China will continuously maintain the momentum of two- way trade cooperation including the implementation of tariff elimination of 97 percent of Lao products export to China, enhancing the people- to- people exchanges, continuing to support the Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI), and strengthening cooperation from the central to local levels comprehensively.
Trade and investment cooperation should be further promoted and strengthened in order to
Lao- China relations entering the best period of history
implement our leaders’ agreement as well as to enhance bilateral relations to realize the tangible benefit for the people of the two countries.
GT: What’s Lao’s expectation for participating in the BRI? Ernthavanh: Lao PDR has paid important attention to supporting the Belt and Road Initiative since the beginning, with the aim of integrating it with Lao PDR’s strategy of “Transforming from land- locked Country into the land- linked Country.” During the past few years, there have been a lot of projects implemented under the BRI in Laos, of which the LaoChina Railway Project is one of the most symbolic and marks a milestone of the Laos- China friendship in the new era.
We believe that the railway project will be completed and be launched by the end of this year as planned. It will make a significant contribution to the implementation of the Lao government’s socio- economic development plan to accelerate the eradication of people’s poverty, as well as promote tourism and stimulate economic growth between the two countries and other nations in the region.
GT: Some Western media outlets hyped that many of the countries participating in the BRI are falling into a "debt trap." What’s your take on that? Ernthavanh: From our understanding, BRI is a long- term policy and investment program which is aimed at infrastructure development and the acceleration of the economic integration of participating countries. BRI encourages and promotes intergovernmental cooperation, policy exchange, and communication mechanism. Moreover, BRI will create a chance for improvement of connectivity of infrastructure construction and technical standards system, which is crucial for the socio- economic development of a small landlocked country like Lao PDR.
Therefore, we strongly believe that, even though there may be some challenges, the BRI will bring more opportunities for the participating countries.
GT: As you have mentioned, 2 million doses of the COVID- 19 vaccine have been sent to Laos by China. How is the distribution of Chinese vaccines going in your country? How do you think of the efforts? Ernthavanh: Recently in Lao PDR, more than 600,000 people received their first doses of the vaccine and more than 300,000 people have been fully vaccinated after having received their second dose of the Chinese vacancies. Besides the vaccines and exchanges between medical experts for purposes of prevention and control, the two governments have also agreed to launch a fast track for essential workers and for trade facilitation to maintain the free flow of goods.
On this occasion, I would like to sincerely thank and appreciate the
Party, government, and people of
China for this important support extended to Lao PDR in the difficult time.