(Wednesday, March 8, 10:15)
Respectable Ms. Lina Chang, President of the Samoa Victim Support Group,
Respectable Mr. Chen Wanhui, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute of NUS,
Your Honorable Ministers,
Dear Children from Samoa Victim Support Group,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Talofa Lava
Good morning! Today we gathered happily at Samoa Victim Support group to attend the opening ceremony of the Chinese class. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese embassy in Samoa, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the establishment of the Chinese class in Samoa Victim Support Group, and my high respect for the hard work and efforts of the colleagues from the Confucius Institute and the Group.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Samoa have become increasingly close. Volunteer teachers from China have begun to teach Chinese at NUS since 2001, more and more Samoan young students get to know China and Chinese culture. Furthermore, China has also provided government scholarships to Samoa since 1982 to enable outstanding Samoan students to receive higher-quality education in China. Especially in 2018, China’s Liaocheng University and NUS jointly set up the Confucius Institute, and more than 1,000 people have experienced Chinese culture at the Confucius Institute since then, which has become an important platform for Samoan people to learn more about China. In order to bring equal access to culture and development, with the resources of the Confucius Institute, we set up Chinese class in Samoa Victim Support Group to help the children learn Chinese, acquire new knowledge and skills, and enrich their lives.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Caring for the disadvantaged groups is the responsibility of all members of society, and it is also an important symbol of social civilization and progress. Both China and Samoa attach great importance to the development of social welfare, and the Chinese government is willing to do some practical work for the Samoan disadvantaged groups within its capacity. Today, I have the great honor to bring some school supplies such as schoolbags, notebooks, and pens for the children. The embassy will also assist two TVs to the Group to improve the learning environment for the children, and the experts of the Chinese medical team to provide free medical examinations this weekend for the children.
In his report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, President Xi Jinping sincerely called on the people of all countries to work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Learning Chinese has opened the window for Samoan students to communicate with 1.4 billion Chinese people, and brought the opportunity to experience the Chinese culture. With the continuous deepening of cultural and People-to-People exchanges, I do believe that the friendship between China and Samoa will be further sublimated and China-Samoa community with a shared future will be more unbreakable. I hope you can continue to learn Chinese hard and become envoys for promoting the friendship between China and Samoa.
thank you!
