China News Service, Beijing, June 1 (Reporter Guo Chaokai) Less than a year later, the second China-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Suva, Fiji, in an online and offline manner on May 30.

From reaching a five-point consensus to building six new platforms, there are many highlights in the new meeting between China and the South Pacific island country, the "old friends".

　　Some observers here pointed out that compared with the video "Meeting in the Cloud" of the first China-Pacific Island Foreign Ministers' Meeting in October last year, this foreign ministers' meeting not only increased face-to-face offline meetings in Fiji, but also ushered in the relationship between China and the Pacific Island countries. A "re-upgrade" of cooperation.

　　As Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded: China and island countries will continue to support and help each other, firmly safeguard each other's core interests and major concerns, and continue to consolidate and expand comprehensive strategic partnership.

　　From the perspective of cooperation mechanism, in the past, China often conducted bilateral diplomacy with South Pacific island countries such as Fiji and Samoa, and rarely conducted multilateral diplomacy.

Last year's first foreign ministers would institutionalize multilateral diplomacy, and this foreign ministers meeting will fix this mechanism.

According to Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, the two sides will carry out more cooperation under this framework in the future to build a closer community of shared future between China and the Pacific island countries.

　　From the perspective of cooperation results, following the implementation of more than ten outcomes reached at the first foreign ministers' meeting, China announced this time that it will continue to build six new cooperation platforms, including poverty reduction, climate change, disaster prevention, agriculture, and the Juncao Center. The South Pacific island countries have reached consensus on deepening comprehensive strategic partnership and pursuing common development and prosperity.

　　This means that the depth and breadth of cooperation between China and the South Pacific island countries is expanding, and it is expected to usher in new great development and great opportunities.

　　Both the cooperation mechanism and the cooperation results show that the relationship between China and the South Pacific island countries has been "upgraded again" in a short period of time.

This has also aroused great concern from the outside world. Why can the cooperation between the two sides bear fruitful results?

　　In fact, as Wang Yi said: China is not a "newcomer", but an "old friend" who has known and known the island country for many years.

The rapid development of the relationship between China and the island countries is not "turned out", but "a matter of course".

　　Located in the South Pacific Ocean, a group of island countries is famous for its dotted islands and rich marine resources, but the threat of survival brought about by its small scale and weak foundation makes the local economy quite fragile.

　　Since the establishment of diplomatic relations with the South Pacific island countries in the 1970s, China has demonstrated its friendship with practical actions and won the full trust of the South Pacific island countries.

　　A set of data shows China's sincerity and efforts: Since the 1970s, China has implemented nearly 500 projects in the island countries, helping the island countries build important infrastructure such as roads, bridges, docks, and cultivating about 10,000 people of various types for the island countries. .

China has sent medical teams to eight island countries that have diplomatic ties, benefiting hundreds of thousands of people in the island countries.

From 1992 to 2021, the trade volume between China and the island countries that have established diplomatic ties has grown by an average of 13% annually, an increase of more than 30 times.

　　In recent years, under the "flanking attack" of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, climate change and the rupture of the industrial chain, the development of the South Pacific island country has faced many challenges.

　　In this regard, at the first foreign ministers' meeting held last year, China took the lead in establishing a series of cooperation mechanisms such as emergency supplies reserve, poverty reduction and development cooperation center, and climate change cooperation center, focusing on the most urgent development needs and concerns of South Pacific island countries. issue.

At a time when the global epidemic continues to spread and regional hotspot issues are emerging one after another, China has also made efforts to seek the "greatest common divisor" of cooperation with South Pacific island countries during this meeting.

　　According to Guo Yanjun, director of the Institute of Asian Studies of China Foreign Affairs University, compared with the extremely limited assistance from Western countries, China's proposed practical cooperation in poverty reduction, climate change, and disaster prevention is exactly what the South Pacific island countries urgently need.

Promoting the effective connection between the global development initiative and the blue Pacific 2050 strategy of the island countries can not only inject new impetus into the comprehensive strategic partnership, but also enhance the independent development capabilities of the South Pacific island countries.

　　"Long distance knows horsepower, and time sees people's hearts".

For decades, China has become a trusted "old friend" and "true friend" of the South Pacific island countries through sincere and pragmatic cooperation, which has also made the quality and upgrade of bilateral cooperation more natural.

　　The rapid development of relations between China and the South Pacific island countries and the close exchanges and cooperation have caused dissatisfaction and suspicion among politicians in some Western countries.

Recently, some politicians have attacked and smeared China's cooperation with South Pacific island countries and questioned the intention of cooperation.

　　At this foreign ministers' meeting, China responded to the doubts of the West with practical actions, showing that China's assistance to the South Pacific island countries does not attach any political conditions, and it has and is actually supporting the island countries in developing their economies, improving people's livelihood, and maintaining stability.

As Wang Yi said: China has no intention of competing with anyone, let alone engaging in geopolitical competition, and has never built a so-called "sphere of influence".

　　In Guo Yanjun's view, a zero-sum game will only lead to multiple losses. It is not China's diplomatic tradition. China advocates cooperation for multiple wins.

The slander of Western countries is groundless and untenable.

Ruan Zongze also said that the successful holding of the second foreign ministers' meeting and reaching a number of consensuses is itself the most powerful response to the slander of the West.

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