President Xi Jinping In His New Year’s Speech Says China ‘Had Happiness, As Well As Sadness’ In 2015
Aside from underlining the national achievements from the previous year, President Xi Jinping in his New Year's speech Thursday said China had its ups and downs in 2015.
GB Times reported on the same day that the Chinese president stressed China's continuous effort to combat domestic corruption. Aside from that, he also tackled the improvement of peaceful cross-Strait relations and highlighted its preparedness to completely cooperate in international affairs in 2016.
"Mr. Ma Ying-jeou and I met in Singapore, with a handshake that transcended 66 years of time and space," Xi said, as noted by CCTV America Thursday. "This shows the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations is the common wish of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."
He also mentioned China's victory in a bid to host the 24th Winter Olympic Games in 2022. Xi added that this and some other national achievements are proofs that "can always be realized" through perseverance.
"These show that as long as we persevere, dreams can always be realized. During the past year, we had happiness, as well as sadness," he said.
On the other hand, Xi tackled some events which he considered "deeply heartbreaking."
These include the capsizing of the Eastern Star ferry in June claiming more than 400 lives, two massive explosions at Tianjin Port killing over a hundred people in August and the Shenzhen landslide in December that killed about 70 individuals.
"All these are deeply heartbreaking. We will remember them. We wish all the deceased to rest in peace and the living safe and healthy. Some difficulties and troubles still remain in people's daily life," Xi said.
He went on, "The Communist Party of China and the government will surely continue efforts to effectively guarantee the safety of people's lives and property, guarantee the improvement of people's livelihood, and guarantee people's health."
The Chinese leader ended his New Year's message by calling out his constituents "to work together to build a community of common destiny of all mankind, which is shared by all people in every country."
