BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2021) China will keep providing Cuba with aid to fight COVID-19, President Xi Jinping said on Monday in a phone call with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Diaz-Canel.
"China has always considered it necessary to respect the right of all countries to choose their path of social development, oppose unilateral sanctions and foreign interference in the internal affairs of other states," Xi said, as quoted by China Central Television.
Beijing supports Havana's path toward building prosperous and sustainable socialism, as well as its fight to protect national sovereignty and security, and combat brutal intervention, the Chinese leader added.
"China will continue providing aid to Cuba within its capabilities to help fight the pandemic and improve the living standards of its people," Xi stated.
The Cuban president thanked China for its consistent assistance, including vaccine and other medicines supplies, and expressed its commitment to cooperate with Beijing on fighting hegemony and power politics, as well as attempts to politicize and stigmatize the pandemic.
Cuba has registered over 640,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 5,000 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, with daily cases on the rise since mid-July due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. In late July, the US imposed sanctions targeting the Cuban military and the interior ministry over the crackdown on recent protests, sparked by anger over shortages of food, medicine, and other basic necessities.
