Chinese President Xi Jinping Welcomed with “Respect and Love” in Serbia

A. Vučić met Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the main government building in Belgrade, and there was a real red carpet for them. The Chinese leader was greeted with a salute, the Chinese national anthem was played, and the prime minister and the governor of the National Bank of Serbia were among those who shook hands. The two leaders waved from the balcony to several thousand people gathered outside, some holding Chinese flags.

A. Vučić called Xi Jinping “Serbia’s friend”. “Nowhere else will he find such respect and love as he will find here, in our Serbia,” added A. Vučičius.

As Xi Jinping applauded, he told the crowd: “We have a clear and simple position on China’s territorial integrity. Yes, Taiwan is China.” Beijing considers the self-governing democratic island as its territory and does not rule out the possibility of taking it back by force.

After the two leaders sat down, Xi Jinping told A. Vučić that “there is a strong sense of friendship between our countries.”

Xi Jinping arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday evening after a state visit to France, ending his first trip to Europe in five years in Hungary. Viktor Orbán’s no less friendly welcome awaits him there.