On 7 August 2020, the Royal Thai Embassy in capacity as Chair of the ASEAN Committee in Beijing held an ASEAN Flag Raising Ceremony. Mr. Chen Xiaodong, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister, Mr. Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of Thailand to China, and diplomats from other ASEAN countries attended the ceremony. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), accompanied by heads of all divisions of ACC was present upon invitation.
Ambassador Arthayudh and Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong delivered remarks respectively. Ambassador Arthayudh said the flag raising ceremony is a showcase of close exchanges, solidarity and cooperation among ASEAN countries in the past 53 years. COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to ASEAN countries in terms of daily life and production, social and economic development. ASEAN countries are committed to building a people-centered ASEAN Community and jointly coping with the current and future challenges. This year marks the 17th anniversary of ASEAN-China strategic partnership and the 29th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. The ASEAN-China partnership has become the pillar of regional peace, prosperity and stability. ASEAN countries appreciated China’s support for the building of ASEAN Community and ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation, commended China for sending medical materials and expert teams to ASEAN countries to help fight against the pandemic. Thailand appreciated the positive role played by the ACC in promoting the development of ASEAN-China relations and thanked ACC for co-organising the “Walk Along Hand in Hand: Photo Exhibition on ASEAN-China People-to-People Exchanges” with the Royal Thai Embassy in conjunction with today’s activity.
Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong congratulated ASEAN on its 53rd anniversary, welcomed ASEAN becoming the fifth largest economy in the world and the first sub-regional community in Asia. China and ASEAN countries have supported each other in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, setting a good example for international cooperation. ASEAN has become China’s largest trading partner in the first half of this year, once again demonstrating the huge potential for cooperation between the two sides. During the 26th China-ASEAN Senior Officials’ Consultation held last July, the two sides agreed to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation and the alignment of each other’s development strategies, prepare for the leaders’ meeting and other major events, and promote greater progress of the China-ASEAN relations in the post-pandemic era.
After the ceremony, guests enjoyed the Photo Exhibition on ASEAN-China People-to-People Exchanges with great interest. As the region celebrates the 53rd anniversary of ASEAN and 29th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relationship between ASEAN and China this year, the exhibition features pictures of exchanges and cooperation between the two in education, culture, tourism, media and other fields in the past two years, as well as “ASEAN in the eyes of Chinese friends” and “China in the eyes of ASEAN friends” series. The two sides share the aspiration to work closely to deepen people-to-people exchanges and practical cooperation to forge a closer community with a shared future. The photo exhibition is held from 7 to 14 August at the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing.
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