Chinese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs meets Peres’ family
The Chinese Deputy of Foreign Affairs Zhang Ming has visited the Shiba Medical Center to support President Peres’ family on behalf of the Chinese leadership, the Chinese people, and the Speaker of the Chinese Parliament Zhang Dejiang – who is currently in Israel on an official visit.
Shimon Peres with China leader Xi Jinping
The Chinese Deputy of Foreign Affairs met with Chemi Peres, son of the Ninth President, and Rafi Walden, son-in-law and personal doctor of Peres.
During their meeting, he gave them a unique letter from the Speaker of the Chinese Parliament and the Chinese Leadership, passing with it a message of hope for the President’s speedy recovery, saying: “We came in order to support your family in this difficult time”.
The Chinese Leadership, and especially Speaker of the Chinese Parliament, requested to pass on their wishes and prayers for the good health of the Ninth President Shimon Peres, who is an important figure for the entire Chinese people.
“The Chinese people admire and respect Shimon Peres just like the rest of the world. He is a great and important friend to the Chinese people and we have immense respect and deep appreciation for him.
I have met him many times and he impressed me time and time again at every meeting with his wisdom, philosophical thought, and renewed vision for the relationship between our two countries.”
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also referred to Peres’ role in the strong ties between Israel and China, saying: “Peres is one of Israel’s founding fathers. For us he is an important and admired leader who contributed greatly to the establishment and growth of the State of Israel. He is one of the main leaders for peace, who devoted his whole life and work towards creating peace and stability in the Middle East and around the world.
Peres laid the groundwork for talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and above all he is the father of strategic relations with China – opening the doors for political and economic relations between China and Israel. With his work on behalf of China, he contributed to the economic advancement and scientific development of China. In every one of his visits to China he was received by the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people as a distinguished guest. With his historic visit to China in 1993, he continued a tradition of political visits and delegations in order to strength the relations between our two countries.”
Chemi Peres replied to the Deputy Minister, saying: “I wish to thank the Speaker of the Chinese Parliament, the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people, on behalf of my entire family. My father holds a special and deep respect for the culture, the Leadership and the People of China. Strengthening relations between Israel and China has always been extremely important to him, and he put a lot of effort into broadening those relations. He appreciated and supported the visits of joint delegations and worked towards strengthening our economic and scientific collaborations.
My father has spoken a lot about the common values and traditions that are shared between China, the Jewish people and the State of Israel. On the same day that he was hospitalized, he even met an economic/scientific delegation comprised of Chairmen of Chinese companies, and enjoyed telling them all about the unbelievable story of the State of Israel as the Start-up Nation. Chemi went on to tell the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs that in the past year, many governors and the Chairmen of various companies have asked Peres to assist them in establishing innovation centers in order to contribute to the strengthening of China’s position in the economic and technological fields. Chemi said: “this vision of collaboration with the help of the innovation centers made him really enthusiastic and he has worked eagerly to promote it.
My father has always been a fighter as he is doing right at this moment– he is fighting to leave the hospital, and I know his greatest desire is to return to work in full force. He always talks about being optimistic and now we are clinging to his optimism. It takes a lot of patience, and we are thankful for the prayers and the waves of love and well wishes that we are receiving from all across the world.”
Rafi Walden, Peres’ son-in-law and personal doctor, briefed the Chinese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on the medical status of the Ninth President. As someone who had accompanied Peres on his last visit to China in December in order to attend groundbreaking of the Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology, he was able to recount Peres’ excitement over the new frontier of the relations between Israel and China.
Latest reports of the 9th President Shimon Peres’ condition: “The medical status of the Ninth President Shimon Peres is stable and there has been a slight improvement in his breathing. His vital signs are stable and the President’s medical team is continuing to monitor his neurological state and is providing treatment based on the President’s medical condition. ”
