Xiplomacy: Forging "ironclad friendships" in an uncertain world

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The overlapping visits last week of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to China shone a spotlight on a phrase frequently used to describe Beijing's relations with both nations -- "ironclad friendship."

As a constant refrain throughout the visits, the phrase dominated media coverage and public discussion, underscoring the exceptional depth and resilience that define China's ties with Pakistan and Serbia.

FORGED THROUGH TRIALS

Describing his first state visit to China as the most important trip of his political career, President Vucic is no stranger to the Chinese public. Over the years, his frequent attendance at major events in Beijing has made him a familiar figure, while the phrase "ironclad friendship" has also become a permanent fixture of his dialogues with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whether in person or by phone.

During talks with Vucic on Monday, Xi said, "The China-Serbia ironclad friendship is unique, and underpinned by deep historical logic and a strong practical foundation."

Such a strong friendship was strengthened by the valuable experiences and development practices Serbia shared with China during the early years of its reform and opening-up in the 1970s.

From the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in China's Sichuan in 2008 to the severe Serbian floods of 2014, the two peoples have consistently stood shoulder-to-shoulder, offering immediate solidarity in times of hardship.

Xi said the Chinese and Serbian nations have both experienced sufferings and glories, and forged a persevering and tenacious character.

Amid warm applause at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday evening, Xi presented Vucic with the Friendship Medal, China's highest honorary medal bestowed on foreign nationals. At the ceremony, Xi said the friendship between China and Serbia, tempered through blood and fire, has proven even more precious amid the fast-changing international landscape.

Describing himself as "very proud, very dignified, and almost moved to tears" upon receiving the honor, Vucic later told reporters that the medal carries a profound responsibility to work harder to foster deeper bonds between the two nations.

China and Serbia have rendered each other firm support on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns.

On the Taiwan question, Vucic has repeatedly reaffirmed Serbia's unequivocal position. "Taiwan is an internal Chinese issue. It belongs to China in accordance with the UN Charter, full stop," he said in an interview with a Chinese media outlet during his visit, reaffirming Serbia's adherence to the one-China principle.

China's "ironclad friendship" with Pakistan is also rooted in decades of mutual trust, steadfast support and common development.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 75 years ago, China and Pakistan have forged an unbreakable traditional friendship, Xi said during talks with Sharif on Monday, noting that the strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation between the two sides have strongly promoted the development of both nations.

From Pakistan becoming one of the first nations to recognize the People's Republic of China and facilitating China's historic rapprochement with the United States, to the engineering feat of the Karakoram Highway across towering mountains and the evolution of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, bilateral ties have steadily deepened across generations.

Sharif said the two countries' ironclad friendship is "growing ever stronger and next to none."

"Pakistan will always be China's good friend and good partner," he said.

MUTUAL RESPECT FOR SHARED DEVELOPMENT

During Vucic's visit, China and Serbia signed more than 20 cooperation documents covering political relations, economy and trade, science and technology, education, legal affairs and culture.

Vucic said that the signing of these agreements represents much more than diplomacy for Serbia. "They are a confirmation of sincere friendship, mutual respect, and trust that we have built and kept for years," he wrote on social media.

Over the years, economic collaboration between China and Serbia is particularly evident in transformative projects like the Zemun-Borca Bridge, the Hungary-Serbia Railway, and the revitalization of the Smederevo Steel Plant.

At the same time, China's expanding market access has created new opportunities for Serbian exports. Nearly two years after the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement entered into force, a growing number of Serbian specialty products, such as wine, honey, beef and lamb, have entered the Chinese market.

Statistics show that Serbia's exports to China increased from 22 million U.S. dollars in 2013 to 1.9 billion dollars in 2024.

For China and Pakistan, their leaders recognized at an early stage that relationships built on mutual respect, sovereign equality, and long-term trust often outlast shifting geopolitical circumstances, said Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi.

Today, China-Pakistan cooperation spans multiple dimensions: connectivity that creates opportunity, innovation that drives transformation, and institutions that sustain long-term partnership.

Therefore, the flagship CPEC should be understood not merely as a collection of infrastructure projects or energy investments, but as one phase within a longer continuum of strategic cooperation, Hashmi said.

Moreover, China has consistently championed equity and justice, and remains committed to friendly cooperation with other countries.

"China, as a major country, has always treated smaller countries with equality and respect, and abided by international law, setting a good example for the world," Vucic said.

UPHOLDING FAIRNESS AND JUSTICE

The significance of such ironclad friendships extends beyond bilateral relations, as reflected in the broad consensus China, Pakistan and Serbia share on major international and regional issues.

Recently, international institutions, such as the UN Conference on Trade and Development, have warned that geopolitical tensions have increasingly replaced trade tensions as the main source of global instability.

Against this backdrop, China and its ironclad friends have demonstrated their stability, continuity and predictability -- qualities that are becoming increasingly valued by the international community.

The three countries have been committed to multilateralism and upheld the UN Charter, while opposing unilateralism, hegemonism and power politics. They have also emphasized the necessity of resolving disputes through dialogue and diplomacy, and safeguarding international fairness and justice.

During talks with Sharif, Xi praised Pakistan for "demonstrating a proactive spirit and mediating for peace to return to the Middle East," referring to Islamabad's efforts to help ease the Iran conflict. Sharif, in turn, said that the four propositions put forward by Xi on the Middle East situation provide a guiding framework for peace in the region and that Pakistan stands ready to coordinate closely with China to advance world peace and stability.

China and Serbia, in a joint statement issued on Monday, reaffirmed that, in a fluid and turbulent world, all parties must more firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

"Why we see China as a stabilizing factor, as a gravity center of stability today?" Vucic asked a packed auditorium, consisting mostly of students, during a speech at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University on Tuesday.

"Because China has principles, number one, which is (abiding by) UN Charter, UN resolutions and international public law," he said.

"Number two, China is acting in a very responsible way, always seeking for peace, always asking all international players to keep tranquility, to keep stability and to keep peace," he concluded.