{"id":24074,"date":"2024-05-09T11:01:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T05:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lankatruth.com\/en\/?p=24074"},"modified":"2024-05-14T08:48:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T03:18:45","slug":"chinas-xi-gets-red-carpet-welcome-in-serbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lankatruth.com\/en\/?p=24074","title":{"rendered":"China’s Xi gets red-carpet welcome in Serbia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The red flags start at Belgrade\u2019s Nikola Tesla Airport and run all the way along the motorway into the centre of Serbia\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Serbia\u2019s way of showing that it is proud of its \u201cironclad friendship\u201d with China \u2013 and welcoming Xi Jinping to Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Western City Gate, more commonly known as the Genex Tower, one entire tower is draped in China\u2019s national colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just for good measure, there is a billboard for Hisense, the Chinese home appliances manufacturer which opened a refrigerator factory in Valjevo, western Serbia, last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some parts of Europe, the Chinese president\u2019s itinerary might have raised eyebrows. After all, it is not often that Serbia finds itself as part of a three-stop tour by an international leader of such stature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Serbia has been deepening its relationship with China in recent years, even as it continues with negotiations to join the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Xi is likely to use his trip to highlight his criticisms of Nato. His visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the US airstrikes on China\u2019s embassy in Belgrade. And in an editorial for the Serbian newspaper, Politika, the president made it clear that feelings over that incident still run high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should never forget,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That kind of rhetoric resonates in Serbia, where the vast majority of people oppose Nato membership. That is a key factor in why this stop on Mr Xi\u2019s European tour makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nato’s 1999 bombing campaign was aimed at pushing Serb forces out of Kosovo<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ommercial connections are also a factor. The two countries signed a free trade agreement last year, building on a \u201ccomprehensive strategic partnership\u201d in 2016 \u2013 the year of Mr Xi\u2019s previous visit to Serbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China now claims to be the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Serbia. Its ambassador, Li Ming, says that Hisense, along with mining company Zijin and tyre manufacturer Linglong, provide 20,000 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN trade figures actually put China in fifth place on the foreign direct investment list, behind Germany, Italy, the US and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, the Chinese investments are eye-catching \u2013 and only likely to increase. Serbia has just taken delivery of its first Chinese electric high-speed trains. They will eventually run alongside Swiss-made rolling stock on the Belgrade-Budapest railway, which is being reconstructed with Chinese expertise and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is just the start. Serbia\u2019s infrastructure minister, Goran Vesic, says Chinese partners will work on other infrastructure, including roads, bridges, tunnels and sewage. \u201cThere is really a lot of room for co-operation with Chinese companies,\u201d he told Serbia\u2019s national broadcaster, RTS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No wonder Serbia\u2019s president, Aleksandar Vucic, is planning to personally serve the finest wines his country has to offer to his Chinese counterpart during a banquet in Mr Xi\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Xi Jinping was treated to a wet day in the Pyrenees at the end of his French visit<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Noting that within five years Serbian wine will face no import tariffs in China, Mr Vucic told China Central Television that Serbian wines were \u201cnot as expensive as [those] in France\u201d and that he believed Mr Xi was \u201cgoing to like\u201d his selections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was perhaps a gentle dig at Emmanuel Macron, who hosted Mr Xi for the first stop on his European trip. The French president\u2019s offering was a bottle of R\u00e9my Martin Louis XIII cognac, which would cost the best part of \u20ac5,000 in Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A trip to the Pyrenees was also included in the charm offensive \u2013 to sweeten pleas by Mr Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for Mr Xi to ensure more balanced trade with Europe and influence Russia\u2019s President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Belgrade, the next stop for China\u2019s president will be Budapest, where he will meet his strongest ally among the leaders of EU member states, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese investments are also a strong factor there \u2013 with a factory for electric car giant BYD among the projects that buttress Mr Orban\u2019s resistance to the EU consensus on everything from migration to providing arms to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC<\/p>\n

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