Mombasa, 7 January 2022 (TDI): Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta met with the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who had been invited to visit the African country. Wang Yi is on his official East Africa tour.
Views of President of Kenya
Kenyatta urged Wang to express his warm congratulations to President Xi Jinping. He stated that the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to Kenya at the start of the year completely illustrates Kenya’s strong ties with China.
He stated that China is not only a reliable friend of Kenya, but both states have close cooperation in development which deepens the pragmatic ties in various fields and cultural exchanges between Kenya by creating a large number of jobs, improving people’s lives, and bringing the significant benefits to the people.
Kenyatta further stated that Kenya’s developmental achievements would not have been possible without China’s vigorous assistance, which is profoundly ingrained in the minds of the Kenyan government and people.
In addition, he stated that to bring health, prosperity, and dignity to its people, every state has a right to choose a development path independently suited to its own national conditions and interest.
While some people like to point fingers at the country by claiming that it has various problems but China has sincerely assisted the Kenya in solving problems and meeting its needs through actions.
Kenya-China cooperation is about timely assistance between sincere partners. He told during his address that he is frequently asked that why Kenya and China interact so closely, and he responded that China and Kenya respect and regard each other as equals.
The Kenyan President highlighted Kenya’s commitment to continue strengthening mutually beneficial relations with China in order to achieve mutual development. In this regard, the Kenyan government is full of expectations for the future of Kenya-China relations.
Views of Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister initially expressed President Xi’s warm greetings and best wishes to President Kenyatta and commended Kenya on its rapid progress under President Kenyatta’s leadership.
He stated that his visit to Africa at the start of the year is intended to highlight China and Africa’s unity and mutual trust, as well as China’s firm commitment to build China-Africa friendship.
According to Wang Yi, the visit would convey three distinct messages. First and foremost, China will stand strongly with Africa in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic until the virus is absolutely eradicated.
Second, China is eager to expand its overall cooperation with Kenya in order to assist Kenya in improving its self-development skills and accelerating industrialization.
Third, China is prepared to deepen its solidarity and cooperation with Kenya in international and multilateral issues; mutual safeguarding of both states’ legitimate rights, the mutual interests of developing nations, and to protect international fairness and justice.
The Chinese Foreign Minister stated that China is eager to cooperate with Kenya to execute the China-Kenya comprehensive strategic and cooperative relationship and to be close partners of each other in order to accelerate growth and revitalization, promotion of China-Africa unity, and preserve regional peace.
He also introduced the proposed “Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa” upon request. In this regard, the Kenyan government has given the assurance that Kenya is willing to play a role in this project to fulfill the urgent needs of countries in the Horn of Africa.
After the meeting, Wang was asked to join in the completion ceremony of the Chinese-built oil terminal at the port of Mombasa. Wang also met with Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Raychelle Omamo. Both witnessed the signing of the bilateral cooperation documents.
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