SERZH SARGSYAN: WE ARE SINCERELY INTERESTED IN EXPANSION OF CHINA’S PRESENCE IN THE REGION

Noyan Tapan

Au g 8, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Prior to leaving for Beijing, the
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan gave an interview with Xinhia news
agency (China).

NT was submitted this inteview by the RA presidential press
service. Below is its text with some abridgement.

Question: Mr. President, what kinds of sports are you fond of? What
would you like to wish the Olympic teams of China and Armenia? What
hopes do you link to the Armenian Olympic team?

Answer: Armenia is a country of sports. It is also thanks to the
triumphal pages of famous Armenian sportsmen and Armenian sports
that the world knows our small country. Although the population of
our country is small, Armenia has left quite an impressive trace
in the biography of world sports and Olympic movement. According to
historical sources, one of medieval Armenian kings, King Varazdat,
became an Olympic wrestling champion in the 4th century. Nowadays many
Armenian sportsmen have immortalized their names in the register of
winners and record-breakers of Olympic Games. So the Armenians have
Olympic blood.

I am a great fan of sports. I head the Armenian Chess Federation. Chess
is a kind of sport in which both Armenian and Chinese chess players
have achieved striking results, while our team is the current
Olympic champion. Today everybody’s attention in Armenia is turned to
Beijing. I am leaving for Beijing in good spirits, I will be alongside
our sportsmen and encourage them.

Question: The friendship of the Chinese and Armenian peoples has
a rich history. In the past few years the bilateral relations have
been developing more rapidly and dynamically. How do you assess the
development prospect of relations between the two countries? In which
sectors do you see prospects of closer cooperation?

Answer: China is a friendly country to us. The current high level
of relations has a strong legal basis that includes more than 40
interstate and intergovernmental agreements. Our relations in the
political sphere are characterized by the absence of problems and
the existence of either coinciding or close opinions concerning
major regional and international problems. We in Armenia follow with
respect the process of reforms implemented by the leaders of China
for the purpose of development, modernization and establishment of
a harmonious socialist society.

In the past few years the commodity turnover between our countries has
grown several fold, one of the greatest joint projects, Shansi-Nairit –
construction of a chloroprene rubber plant with an annual capacity of
30,000 tons near the city of Daton is being completed. Progress can
be seen in agriculture, high-tech and himanitarian sectors. Long-term
cooperation programs in culture and sports are being prepared. Despite
all this, I see great potential for cooperation of our countries and
work should continue in this direction.

Armenia accepted with enthusiasm the invitation to participate
in Expo-2010 to be held in Shanghai. We will try to display our
achievements and our potential for developing relations between
Armenia and China at this exhibition.

We are sincerely interested in the expansion of China’s presence in
the region, which will have a positive impact on the whole South
Caucasian region. We welcome China’s recent achievements in the
international field.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China plays a leading
role in international politics. China is a responsible member of the
international community, and we feel China’s unbiased and balanced
position in many issues of international and regional importance.