PORT MORESBY, June 03 (ABC): China and the Cook Islands on Thursday pledged efforts to deepen bilateral practical cooperation and promote closer relations.
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown and visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the pledge during a meeting via video. Wang is here on a visit to Papua New Guinea, the seventh leg of his current tour to Pacific island countries starting from May 26.
China and the Cook Islands, which have respected and treated each other as equals, Wang said, have seen steady progress in bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic ties, with their trade value soaring by nearly 300 times.
China has worked actively in carrying out livelihood projects to help the Cook Islands, and conducted tripartite cooperation with New Zealand, which played an active role in boosting the Cook Islands’ socio-economic development and local people’s living standards, said the Chinese foreign minister.
The two countries have supported each other in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and seen their friendship further upgraded, Wang said, noting that China is willing to use the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to further increase mutual trust and deepen practical cooperation so as to bring more tangible benefits to the two peoples.
Wang noted that China is willing to discuss plans for next-step cooperation based on the development needs of the Cook Islands, and both sides can expand cooperation on tourism, infrastructure, sub-national programs and education to facilitate the country’s economic recovery.
China is also willing to build on the experience of past success to explore more tripartite cooperation, Wang said.
Brown thanked China for its long-term and huge support for the development of the Cook Islands, and its selfless assistance to his country’s fight against COVID-19 despite its own tough anti-pandemic tasks.
He spoke highly of the positive contributions made by Chinese enterprises and local governments to the infrastructure construction and improvement of people’s livelihood in the Cook Islands.
The sound relationship and close cooperation between the Cook Islands and China stand as a strong illustration of China’s vision of treating small countries sincerely and practicing mutually beneficial win-win cooperation, he said.
The Cook Islands cherishes its relations with China and firmly believes that its future is closely linked with China, Brown said, noting that the island country stands ready to work with China to push for greater development of bilateral relations in the next 25 years.
Brown said that his country supports strengthening tripartite cooperation, especially on large-scale projects.
He also noted that the Cook Islands attaches great importance to the mechanism of the China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the next steps for cooperation proposed by China, and is ready to work with partners of island countries to strengthen communication and coordination for better response to various challenges brought by the pandemic.