Meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Cui Qiming

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko presented the Order of Honor to outgoing Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Cui Qiming at the Palace of Independence on 24 September.

The award was bestowed upon the ambassador in recognition of his significant personal contribution to the development and strengthening of political, trade, economic, investment, scientific, and humanitarian ties between Belarus and China.

“We met with you not long ago to discuss issues of the Belarusian-Chinese relations. I cannot say that we have a joyful reason for our today’s meeting. It is really sad when an ambassador leave the country, a good ambassador who has done a lot for the development of bilateral relations (as we with China President Xi Jinping planned),” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“We hope that a new ambassador will be as good. You have done a lot for our relations. I am very grateful to you for this,” the Belarusian President stressed.

“You will soon be in Beijing. I ask you to convey my warmest words of gratitude to my friend, President of China, for the support he has always provided and especially the one provided recently. He was the first to congratulate me on the victory at the Presidential election, the same as all the biggest states on our planet did, except for the West. We have already got used to such attitude. Tell Xi Jinping that he has reliable friends in Belarus and that Belarus will always be a friendly country for China,” the head of state said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the Chinese ambassador is aware of the situation in Belarus. “I would like you to report to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and my friend Xi Jinping on the situation which has been developing in our country,” he said.

The President emphasized the diplomat’s great services to the Belarusian-Chinese cooperation. Over the years of Cui Qiming’s work in Belarus the countries have significantly increased mutual trade.

The President also commented on reproaches from certain countries about his “secret” inauguration. The head of state mentioned the unproductive stance of certain countries on Belarus. “What is especially surprising is that it comes from our neighbors. Neighbors are from God, we do not choose them, and we have to live next to each other and be friends with each other. But it turns out that it is not always the case. You know what position the neighboring countries, especially Poland, have taken,” he said. “With regard yesterday’s inauguration there was some bitterness or criticism that we did not inform Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Czechs and others of our plans to hold the event.”

“In accordance with Belarusian laws we do not have to inform western states or anyone for that matter about it. This is an internal affair of our country. Critics mostly complain about the secrecy. You know, about 2,000 people, including the military, were invited to attend the inauguration ceremony. You can hardly call it a secret event,” the Belarusian leader said.

“But if they did not know about it, what that says about their intelligence, the CIA, the German intelligence? There are thousands of Poles here. What were they doing? Therefore, they should ask their intelligence services about the lack information. Just look at their Telegram channels. The day before they informed that the inauguration ceremony would take place on 23 September. They just need to nag about something,” the head of state stressed.

In his words, the President’s inauguration can be criticized only if held contrary to the law. “In this case, I think, all legal norms were observed. Those who needed knew about it. Preparations also take time,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Yes, we know how to hold events, it is worth mentioning that Belarusians know how to hold events. Next time we will do our best to inform our neighbors, I mean Poles and Lithuanians, about certain big events.”

In the conversation with the ambassador the President explained that by citing this example he wanted to demonstrate the attitude of western countries to the sovereignty and independence of Belarus. They say they do not recognize the legitimacy. You know, we did not ask anybody to recognize the legitimacy of our election, the president-elect. The main thing is to act in accordance with the Constitution of our country. And if they see inconsistencies, they’d better tell us,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“As for yesterday’s event, you, probably, could not but notice that the President’s motorcade drove around the city in a unconventional way. As if we felt that they would accuse us of some conspiracy. We drove around the whole city, people saw it. Therefore, there are no secrets here. And I am not giving any great phantom value to this President’s inauguration, this is not the first inauguration of mine. This is a routine situation,” the Belarusian leader said. “But why are they doing it? They are doing it to hype up the so-called protest moods. They want more people to take to the streets, as more as on Saturdays and Sundays. This is why they need it. We understand it and are prepared for it.”