The Group of Caribbean Ambassadors in Beijing met recently following Chinese President Hu Jintao’s successful visit to the United States, and the protests in North Africa and the Middle East.

Barbados’ Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the Group of Caribbean Ambassadors in Beijing, Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, said that the Group met to underscore the deepening relationships between the Caribbean and China.??????????????

"The meeting was not only in the aftermath of the successful visit of Chinese President Hu to the US for meetings with President Barak Obama, but also in the wake of momentus protests taking place in certain countries in North Africa and the Middle East", Ambassador Sandiford noted.

Sir Lloyd, a former Prime Minister of Barbados (1987-1999), who visited China in 1980, 1990, and 1996 before taking up his present post as Barbados’ first resident Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China in January 2010, declared: "The governments and people of the Caribbean have a vested interest in a regime of peace and economic well-being throughout the world, and it is imperative that harmonious relations should exist between China and the United Sates, and indeed between China and all other countries of the world."

He added that it was "imperative for peace and stability to be re-established in the region of North Africa and the Middle East on the basis of respect for the dignity, culture, respect and human rights of all people, and for the principles of democracy, economic justice, and mutual understanding."

The Group of Caribbean countries with Ambassadors in Beijing include the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica and Suriname.

Author: Ministry of Foreign Affairs/BGIS

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