ESCS Minister Zhanna Andreasyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Armenia Fan Yong.
Welcoming the Ambassador, Zhanna Andreasyan highlighted the importance of advancing Armenian-Chinese relations and cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and sports. Thankful for the continuous support, the Minister drew the Ambassador's attention to the implementation of a number of current programs and outlined possible directions for further cooperation.
Zhanna Andreasyan, in particular, noted with satisfaction that within the framework of the Interstate Program, RA citizens receive higher and postgraduate education in the best universities in China: the Chinese side has allocated 8 scholarship places for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Within the framework of the joint programs of the two countries, the Minister underlined the importance of the activities of the Armenian-Chinese Friendship School, noting that it is necessary to discuss all possible directions for further development of the school's potential and turn it into a resource center. In this respect, Zhanna Andreasyan stressed the importance of the activities of teachers sent from China, whose presence impacts the school environment.
The Minister also referred to the program of translation and publication of classical literary works of Armenia and China, stressing that the works carried out within its framework have made considerable progress. According to her, the first meeting of the corresponding professional council and the Chinese side has already taken place, during which the steps to translate 5 books in 2023 were outlined. Zhanna Andreasyan assured that the Ministry will do everything possible for the successful implementation of the program.
The Minister also proposed to develop cooperation in the field of sports, in particular, to consider the possibility of building an Armenian-Chinese friendship sports complex in Armenia, which can become an additional platform for joint training, exchange of experience of coaches and athletes and the implementation of sports programs. The ESCS Minister also stated that there is great potential for the development and strengthening of cooperation in the field of culture and creativity.
Zhanna Andreasyan drew the Ambassador's attention to the fact that the Azerbaijani side has blocked the road leading to Nagorno-Karabakh for more than 10 days, as a result of which about 120 thousand people are, in fact, cut off from communication with the outside world.
“This is nothing but a humanitarian crisis. As a consequence, a violation of the right to education has been recorded: the educational process was suspended. Besides, there are about 270 Artsakh children in Armenia who cannot return to their families and places of residence. The other day in Goris I had a meeting with these children, and the task of all of us should be to ensure the realization of their fundamental rights as soon as possible. I think that a targeted and precise condemnation of this situation and an international reaction can significantly contribute to an early settlement of the problem. I do hope that in this case there will be a respective response,” noted Zhanna Andreasyan.
The Minister once again expressed her satisfaction with the quality and level of the Armenian-Chinese cooperation and assured that everything possible will be done in the near future to further strengthen and advance it.
The Ambassador congratulated Zhanna Andreasyan on assuming the position of Minister and wished her success. Fan Yong assured that the Chinese side is ready to continue supporting the sectors under the authorization of the MoESCS, expressing hope that this will contribute to the development of the system. He stated that there is a great potential for cooperation, although the pandemic has somehow hindered the process. The Ambassador stressed the importance of all the programs presented by the Minister, assuring that they would cooperate in their direction.
The Ambassador assured that, if necessary, the Chinese side is willing to further increase the scholarship places provided to the youth of the Republic of Armenia both within the framework of the interstate agreement and within the framework of the Confucius Institute.
The Ambassador also stated that the right of Artsakh children to education has been violated and expressed hope that the problem will be solved at the earliest possible time.
Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting.