YEREVAN (Arka)—As part of his state visit to the People’s Republic of China, Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian visited Tiananmen Square on Thursday, laying a wreath and paying tribute to the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the president’s press office reports.
Sarkisian also met with Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Chairman Dejiang greeted the Armenian President and underscored that in the Republic of Armenia, China has a reliable and good partner with which the dynamically developing political dialogue is based on mutual respect and trust. He attached importance to Sarkisian’s state visit to China and the successful high-level negotiations with President Xi Jinping which, according to Dejiang, will give new impetus to bilateral relations.
President Sarkisian expressed his thanks for the warm words and hospitality and noted that Armenia regards its relations with China as one of the most important foreign policy priorities and places great value on the deepening of friendly relations with China – a country representing one of the world’s most ancient civilizations and an influential member of the international community.
The interlocutors agreed that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, recent years’ successful cooperation and mutual support within the framework of international organizations have promoted friendship between Armenia and China and have built mutual trust. At the meeting, the parties also stressed the importance of inter-party cooperation which has been developing year after year.
Following the meeting with Zhang Dejiang, Sarkisian was hosted at the Old Summer Palace, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, where he was familiarized with China’s rich and diverse culture.
A few holes in this praise. First off, China recently signed a deal to sell Turkey its most sophisticated HQ-9 air defense missile system. The deal is worth more than $4 billion. The Chinese premier did not say he will attend the centennial ceremony on April 24. He merely said he will visit Armenia at some point. Lastly, laying a wreath in Tienanmen Square is not the wisest of choices, especially since the square is synonymous with attacking pro-democracy demonstrators in 1989. Hopefully, Sarkissian does not have to back track on this as he did when he initially congratulated Putin for the Crimean land grab.
Putin restored the Crimea to where it belonged. Crimea was Russia and it will always be Russia. Sarkissian is a wise politician, he pays obeisance to what the Chinese government considers sacred, honor the host.