BEIJING - Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will meet in Beijing next Tuesday to prepare for the SCO summit, which will be held in east China's Qingdao City in June.Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will host the meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers.In addition to foreign ministers from India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov and director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee Yevgeniy Sysoyev will also attend the meeting."They will exchange opinions on SCO cooperation in various fields as well as major international and regional issues," foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Wednesday at a daily press briefing.This meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers is the first since the organization's membership expanded last June to include India and Pakistan, according to Hua."We hope that all sides can take this meeting as an opportunity to build consensus and roll out more cooperation measures to ensure the success of the summit and better development of the SCO," Hua said.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will also pay a visit to China.Lavrov's official visit to China, from next Monday to Tuesday, demonstrates the high level and distinctiveness of China-Russia ties, as his Chinese counterpart just wrapped up a visit to Russia in early April, Hua said."The two sides will exchange opinions on recent high-level visits, as well as international and regional issues of common concern," she said. rubber band wristband makernike silicone wristbandssilicone bandscustom bff braceletscustom silicone bracelets cheap
A PLA Navy carrier battle group sails in formation. MO XIAOLIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY Humanitarian actions win praise as the force celebrates its 70th birthday. Zhang Zhihao reports. In May 2002, vessels from the People's Liberation Army Navy embarked on the force's first round-the-world voyage, opening a new chapter in its global outreach and cooperation. Having set sail from a base in Qingdao, Shandong province, guided-missile destroyer CNS Qingdao and supply ship CNS Taicang visited 10 countries, from Singapore to Brazil. The voyage lasted four months and covered more than 30,000 nautical miles (55,560 kilometers), according to records from the Ministry of National Defense. Long-distance voyages are often regarded as coming-of-age experiences for navies capable of such feats. The 2002 voyage represented a major upgrade of the PLA Navy's operational abilities in far-flung oceans since it began visiting neighboring countries in 1985. Major General Ding Yiping, commander of the fleet for the 2002 world tour, told Xinhua News Agency that port calls by warships and goodwill visits are a special kind of peacetime diplomacy. Such visits are also a key way of helping to modernize the PLA Navy and improve mutual exchanges, understanding and friendship between the navies of China and foreign powers, according to Ding. The tour showcased China's resolve to maintain world peace, and demonstrated that the PLA Navy is a mighty, civilized and peaceful military force, he said.
