President, prime minister of North Macedonia meet Chinese defense chief

TIRANA - President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe, respectively, in Skopje on Tuesday.

North Macedonia and China trust each other and enjoy friendly bilateral relations, said Pendarovski, adding that North Macedonia firmly supports the one-China policy and has full confidence in the joint construction of the Belt and Road.

North Macedonia appreciates China's great achievements in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and thanks China for its anti-epidemic assistance, he said, expecting more frequent and in-depth exchanges and cooperation between the two countries after the situation of the pandemic improves.

For his part, Zaev said North Macedonia has received tremendous support and help from China ever since its independence, for which his country is deeply grateful.

The two countries have huge potential for cooperation, he said, adding that North Macedonia hopes to strengthen cooperation with China in such fields as economy and trade, investment, infrastructure construction, defense and security, so as to promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

Wei briefed them on China's epidemic prevention and control, economic and social development and China-U.S. relations, while clarifying China's principled position on the Taiwan question and issues related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

China appreciates North Macedonia's firm adherence to the one-China policy and hopes that North Macedonia will continue to support China in issues concerning China's core interests, he said.

China is willing to work with North Macedonia to make full use of the Belt and Road and "17+1" platform to deepen pragmatic cooperation and achieve mutual benefits, win-win results and common development, Wei said.

The Chinese military attaches great importance to developing relations with the military of North Macedonia and is committed to deepening exchanges and cooperation, so as to push for deep and solid relations between the two militaries, he said.

Also on Tuesday, Wei held talks with Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska. They held in-depth exchanges of views on relations between the two countries and two militaries, as well as the situation of the international and regional security.