Chinese ambassador in the Dominican Republic, Zhang Run introduces himself to the Dominican people in a contribution featured on the front page of the Listin Diario on 30 August 2018. Run arrived to the country on Sunday, 19 August 2018 and is the first People’s Republic of China ambassador to the country. He said he has come to “embrace” the Dominican people and brings the salutes from Chinese President Xi Jinping and the friendship of the 1.3 billion Chinese, as he takes on “glorious mission of writing a new chapter in Dominican and Chinese relations.”
He explains he has worked many years in Latin America and feels at home in the continent. He says his mission is to achieve three objectives – solid trust, fair communication and win-win cooperation.
He said there is a need to improve communication and mutual understanding, reduce the deficit of knowledge given historical and geographical reasons, increase common language and strengthen shared interests. He said China is an enormous market, and has strong technology and capital, and the Dominican Republic has a privileged geographical position and good yields on investment.
“Between our two countries there are enormous natural complementary advantages to cooperation. We need to take full advantage of the potential and open doors to opportunities for cooperation. I believe the bilateral relationship should be comprehensive and diverse,” he writes.
He proposes that in addition to contributions to the economy and trade, infrastructure and other fields, there be cooperation for mutual gain in science, technology, culture, education, tourism and more. He forecast that more Chinese companies will have a presence in Dominican ports, highways, bridges and electric power centrals in the Dominican Republic. That there will be more Chinese tourists enjoying Dominican sun and beaches such as Punta Cana and that more local produce such as cacao, pineapple, tobacco and others be appreciated by Chinese consumers.
He summed up: “China is willing to contribute to the development of the Dominican Republic, following principals of fairness and mutual respect and in win-win conditions. We welcome Dominicans to actively participate in the new process of relations between China and the Dominican Republic to create together opportunities, prosperity and happiness.”
He ended his introduction [as the new US ambassador had also done so in her introductory video] saying that the Chinese are a humble people that want to learn from Dominicans, even about baseball. “Let us work together to give more home runs!”
Follow the story in Spanish:
Listin Diario
30 August 2018
