South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
Monday Semaya Kumba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
By Denis Ejulu
The Chinese embassy in South Sudan on Wednesday celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Monday Semaya Kumba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said that the bloody and costly war of liberation fought by the Chinese people to achieve independence resonates well among South Sudanese due to similar struggles both people went through to gain independence.
“We in South Sudan believe that the path of this national day was one of the bloody and difficult ones, whereby millions of lives were lost, this same day reminds us in South Sudan of our own history of independence,” Kumba said during a ceremony held in Juba.
He reassured that the two countries will continue to strengthen the existing cordial bilateral relations, adding Juba will unwavering continue support for the one-China policy when it comes to the issue of Taiwan.
Kumba said that they are satisfied with the outcomes of the recent Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), where President Salva Kiir held mutual talks with his counterpart President Xi Jinping at the summit in Beijing.
“As active members of FOCAC, we in South Sudan are fully convinced and satisfied with the outcomes of the last FOCAC summit held in Beijing, and we are also satisfied with the outcomes of the bilateral meetings between Presidents Salva Kiir and Xi Jinping, and we are committed to the full implementation of the outcomes of the last summit,” he disclosed.
Kumba also asked the Chinese government to continue supporting efforts to lift the “unjustified sanctions and arms embargo imposed on South Sudan”.
He added that China has demonstrated strong will and desire to promote and expand it’s cooperation with South Sudan in the areas of political engagements, economic, trade, culture and education based on the basic principles of Chinese foreign policy and the governing principles of FOCAC.
Ma Qiang, Chinese Ambassador in South Sudan said that over the past 75 years, China has remained firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, and committed to the path of peaceful development, and developed friendly cooperation with countries worldwide on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
“At present, as the world undergoes profound changes unseen in a century, China will be strategically guided by the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative,” Ma said.
He said that Beijing will continue to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, striving for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.
Ma noted that China has actively responded to the appeal from President Salva Kiir to “scale back humanitarian programming and devote more energy to development support.
Under the FOCAC framework, China has provided South Sudan with grant assistance to build important infrastructure such as the China-aided projects of Juba Teaching Hospital (Phase I), Kiir Mayardit Women’s Hospital in Rumbek, Broadcasting Facilities of SSBC, and Clement Mboro Bridge in Wau.
Additionally, China has worked with South Sudan to implement a number of key projects, including the China-Aided Project of Technical Cooperation of Education (Phase II) and the Air Traffic Management System.
China is also steadily advancing other development-oriented and livelihood-improving projects, such as the China-aided projects of Juba Teaching Hospital (Phase II), Borehole Drilling and Water Supply, and Juncao (Mushroom) Technology.