Good evening!
It is my great honor to have you all here to celebrate together the 96th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. Since 1927,under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China,the PLA has stood the test of war and scored a series of great victories, effectively defending China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and making outstanding contributions to safeguarding world peace.
Entering the new era, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military, the Chinese PLA has remained true to our original aspiration, kept our mission firmly in mind and faithfully fulfilled various tasks assigned by the Party and people. The PLA is developing into a world-class military, which serves as a strong guarantee for the realization of the Chinese national rejuvenation, and for making greater contributions to world peace and building a community with a shared future for the mankind.
As a peace-loving nation,China is also an active contributor to the world peace.The PLA honours its international responsibilities and plays an important role in maintaining world peace, security and stability. China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the top contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Since 1990, the Chinese armed forces have participated in 25 UN peacekeeping missions with nearly 50,000 peacekeepers, 18 of those missions are in Africa. Chinese peacekeeping forces have not only been widely welcomed by the people in the mission area, but also widely recognized by the international community as "a key factor and a key force in UN peacekeeping operations".
In addition to participating in the UN peacekeeping operations,the PLA helps maintain world peace in other ways.Since 2008,the Chinese PLA Navy has taken an active part in international escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, the Chinese Navy has regularly deployed three to four warships to carry out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, and has so far sent more than 100 warships to provide security protection and emergency rescue for more than 7,000 ships.
Without security and stability, there can be no development.As a constructive participant,and an active contributor to the cause of peace and security in Africa,China has continued to implement military assistance to the African Union, supporting capacity building of the African Standby Force and jointly working on competence building for counter-terrorism in the Sahel region,carrying out cooperation in joint and on-site training of China-Africa peacekeeping force and small arms and light weapons management and control. At the bilateral level,the military relationship between China and Ethiopia is an important part of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and playing a role of "booster" for deepening and strengthening bilateral relations. The two militaries have maintained close high-level strategic communication and carried out pragmatic cooperation in such areas as high-level visits, military training and armaments cooperation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Never before in history has the world been so closely interconnected.In April 2022, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which highlights the links among durable peace, inclusive development, security and stability in the African continent, emphasizes the need for greater international cooperation, and supports for the principle of “African solutions to African problems”, and the initiative of African Union’s “Silencing the Guns” .
China looks forward to deepening communication, exchanges and cooperation with African countries through the implementation of the Global Security Initiative in light of the China-Africa Community with a shared future. Let’s join our hands in solidarity and cooperation, marching together towards a better future of lasting peace and common prosperity.
Thank you all!