Wang Yi had a phone call with Latvian Foreign Minister Blaser

On the 14th, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, had a telephone conversation with Latvian Foreign Minister Blaser at request.

Braser said that Latin America and China have just commemorated the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Over the years, the two countries have maintained good pragmatic cooperative relations and have good collaboration on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations Security Council. We look forward to further strengthening communication and exchanges with China and promoting the continuous development of bilateral relations.

Blaser said that 33 Latvian citizens have recently lost contact in mudslides in Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region. After the disaster occurred, I would like to thank China for its reporting and search and rescue efforts, as well as its sincere condolences to the families of the missing persons. Latvia is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China and jointly carry out follow-up work.

Wang Yi said that a sudden ice and rock avalanche on the Nepal side triggered a mudslide disaster, causing heavy casualties and loss of contact in Jilong County, Tibet, China. Latvia is the European country with the largest number of missing people. In the face of this sudden tragedy, I would like to once again express my sincere condolences to Latvia, especially to the families of the missing persons. China treats Chinese and foreign personnel equally and goes all out to carry out rescue operations. We will do our best to continue to search and rescue Lafang and other foreign missing persons, and properly handle the follow-up procedures.

Wang Yi said that although China and Latin America are far apart, the two peoples enjoy profound traditional friendship. China was one of the first countries to recognize Latvia's independence. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have always treated each other as equals, respected each other, and maintained stable development of relations. China's unilateral visa exemption for Latvia reflects its trust in Latvia. Personnel exchanges between the two countries have become more frequent and practical cooperation has continued to expand. China is willing to work with Latin America and the Caribbean to take the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to continuously inject new connotations of the times into China-Latin America relations.