Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reaffirmed his strong support for China’s sovereignty over Taiwan on Wednesday as he warmly welcomed President Xi Jinping, who seeks to deepen political and economic relations with countries more friendly to his country in Europe.
China has spent billions in Serbia and neighboring Balkan countries, especially in mining and industry. Last year, Beijing and Belgrade signed a free trade agreement. Vucic received on red carpets his guest Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, outside the government headquarters in Belgrade, where the Chinese leader was greeted with a salute ceremony with artillery bullets and the playing of the Chinese national anthem, before shaking hands with officials, including the Prime Minister and the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia. From the balcony, the two presidents greeted several thousand people gathered outside, some waving Chinese flags. Vucic welcomed President Xi, whom he described as a “friend of Serbia.” He added, “All this respect and love that he will find here in Serbia, he will not find anywhere else.” “We have a clear and simple position on China’s territorial integrity,” he told the crowd as Xi applauded. Yes, Taiwan is China. There is no doubt that these words resonated well with Xi Jinping, because most European leaders, even if their countries do not recognize Taiwan, usually refrain from making such frank and firm statements. In recent years, China has intensified its pressure on Taiwan, which it has been unable to occupy since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Beijing asserts that the self-governing island is part of its territory and does not rule out the use of force to subject it to Chinese control. When the two presidents sat down at the beginning of their meeting, Xi said to Vucic that there was a “strong sense of friendship between our two countries.” Subsequently, the two sides signed a declaration on strengthening the two countries’ diplomatic relations and witnessed the presentation of various trade promises, such as purchasing Chinese trains, opening new airlines, and increasing imports of Serbian products. Xi arrived in the Serbian capital, whose streets were decorated with Chinese flags and banners expressing a “warm welcome to Chinese friends,” on Tuesday night after a state visit to France that included sometimes somewhat heated discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron on issues including trade and China’s continued close relations with Russia despite the war. in Ukraine. But the other two countries in which Xi chose to stop on his first visit to Europe since 2019 are among the countries most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe. He will visit Hungary after Serbia. Xi’s visit to Belgrade coincides with the 25th anniversary of the 1999 US bombing of the Chinese embassy in the Serbian capital, in an operation that killed three people. “Don’t forget that our Chinese friends were with us 25 years ago when this country was bombed and demolished,” Vucic told the crowd. “They paid a heavy price. They lost people just a few hundred meters from here on this very day.”
Speaking to the newspaper, Xi Jinping again called on China and Serbia yesterday, Wednesday, to “firmly support each other’s basic interests.” Serbia defends China’s claims to Taiwan. In return, Beijing supports Belgrade over Kosovo, a region that has declared independence but whose status remains disputed. Xi Jinping said yesterday that “China supports Serbia… in its efforts to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity regarding the Kosovo issue.” Serb citizens in central Belgrade confirmed that they welcomed Xi’s visit. Retired Stojan Vidovic (67 years old) told Agence France-Presse, “I think it is an excellent thing to receive a visit from the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world.”