T&T-China ties unbroken, growing stronger: President Carmona

Toasting President Xi Jinping during a State Banquet at the Hilton Saturday night

President Anthony Carmona said on Saturday night the bonds that unite Trinidad and Tobago and China are unbroken and have grown stronger over time.

Carmona made the statement in toasting his guest during a State Banquet that he and his wife Reema Harrysingh-Carmona hosted for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan. 

The brief state visit ends on Sunday following a meeting between Xi and some Caricom leaders at the Hilton.

Guests at Saturday's banquet included Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, members of her cabinet, former president George Maxwell Richards and Opposition MPs Donna Cox and Paula Gopee-Scoon. 

Opposition leader Keith Rowley was absent. His colleague Faris Al-Rawi claimed that he was not invited. However government officials confirmed to JYOTI that invitations were sent to Rowley for the state events, including the banquet.

President Carmona declared, "The people of any country with a history as great as China’s must have a great future and the people of any country with the potential of Trinidad must also have a great future." 

He added: “We celebrate on this historic occasion the deep and abiding bond between our two Republics and our two peoples. 

"We recognise that tenacity of will, steadfastness of purpose and clarity of purpose on both sides, arrayed in service of our common interests and common hopes have laid a solid foundation on which we may continue the work of constructing a lasting friendship and mutual corporation and assistance that will redound to the people of our two Republics.”

Trinidad and Tobago has a long relationship with China and is a firm supporters of the "One China Policy" that does not recognise Taiwan as a separate state.

Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatics relations with China in 1974 and the country's first Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, visited China in that year. Former PM George Chambers visited China in 1985 and PM Kamla Persad Bissessar will visit the country in November.