The Ha Mpiti-Sehlabathebe Road, one of the key projects of China-Lesotho cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, was handed over to the Lesotho government on Friday upon completion of its construction.
While addressing the handover ceremony in the country’s Qacha’s Nek District, Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane said that the people of Lesotho have long awaited completion of construction of the road, which will improve local infrastructure, making travel more convenient for the people and helping Lesotho attract more tourists.
“This vital infrastructure project will bring about positive changes to the lives of Lesotho in numerous ways. The improved road will significantly enhance connectivity within the region, facilitating the movement of people and goods. This will not only boost economic activity but also open new opportunities for education, health care and social interaction for the communities it connects. We are truly appreciative of China’s continued support for the Lesotho’s development endeavors, which shall revise the strong bond of friendship between our two nations,” said the prime minister.
Lesotho officials have highly commented on the quality of the road, saying that when Lesotho faced long-term development challenges, the Chinese government and people stood firmly with them, making China a truly trustworthy friend of Lesotho.
Delivering a speech on the same occasion, Acting Chinese Ambassador to Lesotho Lyu Liangzhong said that the Ha Mpiti-Sehlabathebe Road was built with concessional loans provided by the Chinese government within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The construction unit spent five years upgrading the previous gravel road to an asphalt road. The successful execution of this project has provided approximately 1,500 jobs and trained over 300 local technicians, bearing witness to the friendship between China and Lesotho.
The project manager said the 91.48-kilometer-long road will greatly improve the region’s infrastructure, and it is expected to reduce the travel time on the entire route from four hours to 1.5 hours.
China-funded road project handed over in Lesotho
Protesters from Germany, Austria, and France rallied in the southwestern German city of Kaiserslautern on Saturday, demanding the closure of the Ramstein Air Base of the U.S. Air Force nearby, and urging Western countries to pursue peaceful solutions to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Later in the day, nearly 1,000 protesters gathered at the downtown area of Kaiserslautern. Delivering speeches and singing peaceful songs, the protesters condemned the moves of the U.S. and other Western powers to escalate the war and impact regional stability and peace.
They said that since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine started in February 2022, the United States has been gradually upgrading its military support for Ukraine, leading to a prolonged and intensified situation. Besides, the protesters charged that the U.S. has been stirring up regional tensions in recent years, causing significant harm to European countries.
They called on all parties involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to engage in negotiations and resolve the crisis by diplomatic means.
“The permission that NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance) states are giving Ukraine to attack Russian targets in Russia with NATO weapons, with weapons delivered from Germany, from the U.S., from NATO states. This permission is an escalation of this war. This is not an escalation that is coming from Russia, but it is an escalation that is coming from the West, from Western countries,” said Mona Aranea, a protester.
“Major powers and the warring parties must now sit at the negotiating table and resolve this conflict through diplomacy. We have many diplomats in Europe, but they are not communicating with each other, which is a dangerous situation. [If this conflict is not resolved through negotiations,] it will continue to escalate and will not stop,” said Pascal Luig, another protester.
Built in 1951, the Ramstein Air Base, located in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is NATO’s largest air base in Europe, and also, the base of the U.S. Air Force in Europe. Led by the U.S., the base plays a critical role in relaying all drone signals for the United States. From 2009 to 2015, the U.S. launched 473 attacks outside war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, mainly drone attacks, causing a great number of civilian deaths.
Protesters rally to demand closure of U.S. air base in Germany
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