THE Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe yesterday celebrated the 96th anniversary of the founding of the Asian nation’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), saying it has a strong relationship with the country’s army.
Officials from the Defence ministry, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Defence Forces and diplomats attended the reception.
Speaking at the event, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhou Ding said the relationship between Zimbabwe and China dates back to the liberation struggle.
“Same as China, the Zimbabwean people and Zimbabwean army have also made enormous sacrifices in their fight for national liberation and thus highly appreciate their hard-won sovereignty and independence,” Zhou said.
“It is worth noting that the PLA shares a long-lasting friendship with the Zimbabwean army, which dates back to the 1960s and 1970s.
“The precious memories of our solidarity and synergy between the two armies are our shared legacy, which continues to shape and inject momentum to our relations nowadays.”
Senior Colonel of the Defence Attache at the Chinese embassy, Yonglong Zhu, said the Far East country pursues a policy of non-interference in other countries’ political affairs.
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“The socialist system of China, the strategic decision to follow the path of peaceful development, the independent foreign policy of peace, and the best of cultural traditions considering peace and harmony as fundamentals — determine that China will pursue a national defence policy that is defensive in nature,” Yonglong said.
Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Security Initiative, which champions a vision of common, comprehensive, co-operative and sustainable security.