World Health Organization elects China to Executive Board with zero objections from developed countries

'This is the regime that crushed those in Wuhan like Dr. Li Wenliang who courageously tried to warn the world about the coronavirus,' Neuer wrote on Twitter. 

• May 31, 2022
 

The World Health Organization’s Executive Board has elected China with zero objections from any developed nations, despite the role it played in obfuscating investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

Reporting for watchdog organization UN Watch, Hillel Neuer reported that the “regime that crushed” warnings from whistleblowers who warned of the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of its global outbreak in late 2019 and early 2020 was elected without any objections to the WHO’s Executive Board late last week.

“This is the regime that crushed those in Wuhan like Dr. Li Wenliang who courageously tried to warn the world about the coronavirus,” Neuer wrote on Twitter. 

He noted that “not a single democracy spoke out to object.” 

Newsmax reports that Dr. Li Wenliang was a Wuhan-based doctor who was squelched by the Chinese Communist Party after he tried to warn the world of the initial reports of a SARS-like virus later identified as COVID-19. The 34-year-old doctor died of the disease in February 2020. 

https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1530206001688870921 

https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1530215669324730368 

As detailed by Rebel News in 2020, former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the WHO, then-severing the country’s longstanding ties to the United Nations organization. 

The move was made, at the time, due to the WHO’s questionable handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its collusion with the Chinese Communist Party. Trump announced, at the time, that the United States would be rescinding its annual $450 million funding of the group, to be redirected to other organizations that can better address global health needs.

However, the move was retracted following the election of Joe Biden, who renewed America’s support for the WHO in January 2021. 

As detailed in March, the Biden administration continued to have misgivings about the WHO, criticizing its lack of transparency in its report investigating the origins of COVID-19. The report faced heavy condemnation due to China’s extensive input in its content and language. 

“The World Health Organization has lost all credibility,” the Spectator's Ross Clark wrote Saturday following the WHO’s decision to elect China.

“Let's be honest: Is there anyone out there who has faith in the ability of the World Health Organization (WHO) to tackle a future pandemic? Any lingering hope that the WHO might be an organization fit to be trusted with global heath concerns has pretty well evaporated with the election, by acclamation, of China as one of the 12 members of its executive board on Friday,” he wrote. 

"America and Canada apart, [the WHO] is stuffed with small countries, many with lousy human rights records, which will not dare to challenge China or which will not have the political clout to do so,” Clark stated. “The prospects for future pandemics do not look good.”

Tam Seeks Unity After Covid, LOL

Tam Seeks Unity After Covid, LOL

On Monday, Chief Public Officer of Health Dr. Theresa Tam discouraged “division” around public health measures and said “everybody deserves to be heard” during COVID-19. 

Tam also encouraged people to keep wearing masks and get their booster shot while responding to Winnipeg Free Press reporter Dylan Robertson at a federal update on the response to COVID-19. 

“Could you please expand on your point about social cohesion when it comes to mask mandates versus suggestions? As you mentioned, this plays out differently in different contexts. You’ve mentioned social cohesion. I’m just trying to wrap my head around if you might have an example of if you could just expand on that?” asked Robertson

“I think everybody should think about getting the booster and the masking and improving ventilation for themselves and for others. So that’s what I think I mean by social cohesion. I don’t think it’s necessarily helpful to be divisive in this discourse,” said Tam. 

“I think everybody deserves to be heard, but I think from a public health perspective, it is clear that vaccines are effective. You should get boosted. You should wear a mask as much as possible to support people.”

In other words, Tam’s vision of unity is more mass compliance.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Liberal government has divided Canadians by vaccination status on numerous occasions. 

Based on the advice of the Public Health Agency, which Tam helps lead, a flight ban for unvaccinated Canadians remains in place, prohibiting people from boarding a flight or taking a train within Canada or internationally. The federal government has also fired public sector workers for not being vaccinated and is maintaining a border ban on unvaccinated truckers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself has said extremely divisive things about the country’s unvaccinated population, calling them extremists and racists. 

“When people see that we are in lockdowns or serious public health restrictions right now because of the risk posed to all of us by unvaccinated people, people get angry,” said Trudeau. 

“They are extremists who don’t believe in science. They’re often misogynists, also often racists. It’s a small group that muscles in, and we have to make a choice in terms of leaders, in terms of the country. Do we tolerate these people?”

The Liberal government’s divisiveness culminated when Trudeau resorted to the Emergencies Act to arrest and imprison truckers and their supporters protesting the government’s vaccine mandates. 

Senator promoting Patrick Brown’s Tory leadership bid in the Chinese community accuses “white supremacist” competitors

Senator promoting Patrick Brown’s Tory leadership bid in the Chinese community accuses “white supremacist” competitors

Brown has been approved by Senator Victor Oh and a group in Canada’s Chinese community in favor of Beijing.

A message from Conservative Senator Victor Oh, recorded by voters asking voters to support the Mayor of Brampton’s bid for Patrick Brown’s conservative leadership, said Brown’s competitors were racist and white supremacist. I blame it for promoting the principle.

“Looking at the candidates running for the leadership of Canada’s Conservative Party, one of Canada’s three major political parties, he gave a speech as a Canadian citizen and for us, promoting extreme white supremacy. Discriminate against voters in Canada. Future generations are obliged to join this party and vote for candidates of color race and new immigrants, “said a video posted on YouTube on May 27. Without elaborating on the racist cases he mentioned.

Oh’s video was related to an event co-sponsored by the Chinese community in the Toronto area on May 26th to promote Brown’s leadership bid.

 Due to coverage in the local Chinese media, the event will be held by the Toronto Chinese Canadian Organization (CTCCO), an organization that is in a position to support Beijing in the Chinese community, as well as many others that support Beijing as well. Co-sponsored by representatives of the group. Attendance position.

CTCCO Chairman Guo Ning Weng reiterated Oh’s comments in his speech at the event, stating that one of the reasons for Brown’s support was his attitude towards racism. Canada China Media News..

During the 2019 opposition to democratization in Hong Kong, which led to a crackdown by Beijing authorities, CTCCO was one of the groups that held an event in Toronto to blame protesters in Hong Kong. The group also supports the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Act imposed on Hong Kong, which has been criticized by many democracies, including: Canada As a detriment to Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Other organizations attended by representatives at the event hold similar pro-Beijing positions, including the Canadian Association of Chinese Experts (CPAC). CPAC was one of the winners of the “Overseas Chinese Organization” Awards sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Bureau at a ceremony in Beijing’s Great Hall attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2014. Earlier this year, a federal court judge confirmed that the State Council was involved in espionage against Canada’s interests.

Patrick Brown announced his candidacy for Federal Conservative leadership at a rally in Brampton, Ontario, on March 13, 2022. 

Ah, Senator has been in the spotlight for his frequent visits to China in the past.Senate Ethics Officer Said In 2020, Oh violated the rules of conflict of interest by accepting a free trip to China in 2017. Globe and Mail..

In 2016, when conservative Senator Thanh Hai Ngo announced a motion calling on Beijing to end hostilities in the South China Sea. talked Against movement.He also generally The guests Honor and event Features Chinese Ambassador or Supreme Consulate official in Canada.

Earlier this year, Oh accused former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu of lying as a prey to a disinformation campaign that Chiu said he had sacrificed his seat in the 2021 federal elections. Apologized.

At a previous parliamentary session, Chiu introduced legislative legislation to force people who work for foreign entities to register as foreign agents for greater transparency. But the bill was misrepresented by people in the Chinese community, misleading them into thinking they were against their interests, Chiu said.

The Epoch Times contacted Oh for comment, but did not respond by the publication time.

Brown replied to an email asking for comment by asking for a link to Oh’s video, but did not respond any further by the release time after the link was provided.

Brown has a remarkably gentle stance towards China in leadership campaigns compared to other candidates.

In a discussion of candidates in French on May 25, Mr. Brown said that while protecting human rights is important, Canada sent liquefied natural gas to China as a way to “support the fight against China.” It is also important to support trade, which is essential for profits. Climate change. “

“And that’s a way to improve relations with China, [former] prime minister [Stephen] Harper, “he said.

Harper is famous for refusing to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which was attended by many world leaders. His tenure was marked as an era of cooler relations with the Chinese government compared to the previous Liberal government. After Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party won the 2015 election, China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang said the two countries were entering a “golden age.”

Accusation of racial discrimination

A Pierre Poilievre smear attempt?

Brown and his campaign attempted on several occasions to link fellow leader candidates and Tory lawmaker Pierre Poirievre to racism.

brown share A May 15 Twitter video of Pat King, one of the protesters who went to Ottawa during the truck convoy. King is talking about plans to “depopulate Anglo-Saxon races.”

“There is a late game. It’s called the Caucasian depopulation, or Anglo-Saxon. That’s the goal. The Anglo-Saxon race is the strongest pedigree, so it’s depopulation. “King says. video.

Patrick Brown (L) and Pierre Poilievre exchange thorns at the Conservative Party of Canada’s English Leaders Debate in Edmonton on May 11, 2022. (Canada Press / Jeff Mackintosh)

Brown refers to the video and states: [Pierre Poilievre] He spread and supported the “white supremacist” conspiracy theory of dangerous white supremacists reported to have been in the Buffalo Archer Manifest. “

The convoy organizer is away from King, and he is one of the organizers of Freedom Convoy, the main group that protested truck drivers in Ottawa in late January and February against COVID-19 orders. Said not.

A few days later, on May 18, Tory Parliamentarian Michelle Lempelgarner, co-chair of Brown’s leadership campaign, said: share A screenshot of an email on Twitter where someone who is said to be a member of the Conservatives says “I believe in Nazism” and signs off “I support Pierre Polyevre!”.

Poilievre responded to these cases by blaming all racism.

The Conservatives later said that the person who sent the email resigned from the party’s membership after the investigation into the case began.

'We are listening': Penny Wong extends olive branch to Pacific nations as China looms

'We are listening': Penny Wong extends olive branch to Pacific nations as China looms

 May 27, 2022

Newly appointed foreign minister Penny Wong has told leaders in Fiji that Australia is an open and willing security partner as concerns grow over the influence of China in the region.

Wong underlined that Australia understood climate change was "real" for the island nations, who would be among the first to be impacted by rising sea levels.

In the wake of nearby nation Solomon Islands signing a security pact with China, Wong said she wishes for Pacific nations to choose Australia as a security partner willingly.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said she wants Pacific Island nations to choose Australia openly, and not out of some form of obligation.

"Our message to the Pacific is clear. We are listening and we have heard you," Wong said in Fiji. 

"I'm very pleased that so many Australians voted for stronger action on climate. And I recognise that that has been something Fiji and other Pacific Islander nations have been saying for many years.

"For you, climate change is not abstract. It is not a political argument. It is real."

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (right) with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) in the Solomon Islands. There are growing concerns over China's influence in the area. 

The implications of greater Chinese influence in the Pacific is not lost on other Western powers.

Following Fiji's decision to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) today, the White House issued a statement supporting an "open" Indo-Pacific region.

"A close partner to the United States and a leader in the region, Fiji will add vital value and perspective to IPEF, including on our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean economy that creates good, paying jobs," the US government said in a statement. 

"The future of the 21st century economy is going to be largely written in the Indo-Pacific, and IPEF will help to drive sustainable growth for all our economies. 

"The United States thanks Prime Minister Bainimarama, and we look forward to deepening our partnership for the benefit of our countries, the Pacific Islands, and the Indo-Pacific."

Pacific Island nations are thought to be one of the first to be affected when sea levels rise. 

The timing of Wong's visit to Fiji – and the nation's entry into IPEF – has curiously come at the same time that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is in the area to sign the China-Solomon Islands framework agreement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China released a tersely written statement about the visit, effectively arguing that any agreement between China and the Solomon Islands was the business of those two countries, and nobody else.

"Wang Yi stressed that Pacific Island Countries are sovereign and independent states and are not anyone's 'backyard'; both countries have the right to make their own choices, not being subordinate to others," the statement reads. 

"Any smears and attacks on China-Solomon Islands normal security cooperation will be a dead end and any interference and sabotage will be doomed to failure."

Pacific countries reject China’s proposed regional security deal

Pacific countries reject China’s proposed regional security deal

May 30, 2022

The effort of Chinese diplomacy to consolidate a broad security agreement with Pacific island nations suffered a setback this Monday (30), when ten countries in the region did not endorse the cooperation model proposed by Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi undertook a 10-day trip to the region to propose the agreement that, among other things, provided for an increase in the Chinese presence in local security — something similar to what was signed with the Solomon Islands — and outlining an area of free Comerce.

During the final meeting with their regional counterparts, however, no such agreement was made. Some nations wanted changes to be made to the document and the decision delayed, an official from one of the countries told Reuters news agency.

Previously, there had already been dissent from the Federated States of Micronesia, which, in a letter, said that the agreement proposed by Beijing was a “fallacy” aimed at “ensuring Chinese influence in the government and economic control of the main regional industries”.

Chinese diplomacy, even before the meeting, stated that the meeting would not necessarily produce final documents. After the meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it will soon release an official position and that it will continue diplomatic negotiations to “form greater consensus on cooperation”.

Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told reporters that Pacific nations were prioritizing consensus. “Geopolitics means little to citizens whose community is sinking at sea and jobs have been lost during the pandemic,” he said, referring to the climate emergency and the consequences of the health crisis.

Chancellor Wang, on the other hand, urged island nations “not to be distressed or nervous” about the negotiations. “The common development and prosperity of China and the developing countries would only mean the great harmony and progress of the whole world,” he said. Asked about Chinese interest in the region, he said that Beijing also supported emerging countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

The Chinese ambassador to Fiji, Qian Bo, in turn, claimed that all participants had reached general support and that they will maintain diplomatic relations, but that concerns related to specific issues would need to be addressed—without detailing them. The draft agreement, he said, is still under discussion.

The Prime Minister of Niue, an island of 261 km² east of Fiji, Dalton Tagelagi, said countries need time to assess how increased cooperation with Beijing will support regional plans and ensure that local priorities are aligned and are beneficial for all. .

Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping also sent a message to ministers attending the meeting. He stated that China would be a “good friend and a good brother” to the region and that together they share a “common destiny” “China has always insisted on the equality of all countries, large and small, and has developed friendly relations with the islands of the Pacific,” Xi said.

The main focus of the pact proposed by Beijing was in the area of ​​security. The document, to which media such as Reuters and The Guardian had access, proposed expanding China-Pacific cooperation in the police area and in the fight against transnational crime. It also suggested that Beijing train agents from these nations, as well as help improve techniques such as forensic autopsy.

Partnerships in the areas of cybersecurity, data governance, infrastructure, energy and fisheries are also mentioned. The pact also suggests the creation of a free trade area with the nations.

Western countries, especially the United States, are opposed to Chinese influence in the region. The US State Department even told South Pacific countries to be wary of what it called “obscure and vague agreements with little transparency”.

China taking control of the Pacific a military strategy

 China, Pacific islands unable to reach consensus on regional pact

May 30 (Reuters) - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged the Pacific region not to be "too anxious" about his country's aims after a meeting with his counterparts from 10 island nations deferred consideration of a sweeping trade and security communique.

Wang hosted the video meeting with foreign ministers from Pacific island nations with diplomatic ties with China midway through a tour of the region where Beijing's ambitions for wider security ties has caused concern among U.S. allies.

A draft communique and five-year action plan sent by China to the invited nations ahead of the meeting showed China was seeking a sweeping regional trade and security agreement. read more

But the draft communique, first reported by Reuters, prompted opposition from at least one of the invited nations, Federated States of Micronesia, according to a letter leaked last week. Other nations wanted it amended or a decision delayed, an official from one Pacific country told Reuters before the meeting.

Niue said in a statement after the meeting it wanted time to consider China's proposal because it covered regional strategic interests.

After the meeting, which included Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Niue and Vanuatu, Wang said further discussions were needed to shape more consensus.

"China will release its own position paper on our own positions and propositions and cooperation proposals with Pacific island countries, and going forward we will continue to have ongoing and in-depth discussions and consultations to shape more consensus on cooperation," he told reporters in Fiji.

Wang said some had questioned China's motives in being so active in the Pacific islands, and his response was China supported developing countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean also.

"Don't be too anxious and don't be too nervous, because the common development and prosperity of China and all the other developing countries would only mean great harmony, greater justice and greater progress of the whole world," he said.

China's ambassador to Fiji, Qian Bo, said while answering questions after the briefing that participants had agreed to discuss the draft communique and the five-year plan "until we have reached an agreement."

"There has been general support from the 10 countries with which we have diplomatic relations, but of course there are some concerns on some specific issues."

He didn't identify the areas of concern.

"We would like time to consider how the arrangement with China will support existing regional plans to ensure that our priorities are aligned and will be beneficial for all of us for regional prosperity," Premier of Niue, Dalton Tagelagi, said in a statement released after the meeting.

CLIMATE CHANGE, COVID

The secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, urged China at the meeting to work with the region on its priorities, which were climate change and COVID-19 recovery, and through its agreed mechanisms, according to a statement from the forum.

It is the region's main grouping, with 18 members including nations that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not Beijing.

Two nations aligned to Taiwan, Palau and Tuvalu, have recently said they are concerned that Pacific islands would become pawns in superpower competition. read more

"We are all well aware of the increasing intensity of geopolitical manoeuvring in our region today. Indeed, the recent influx of high-level visits to our Blue Pacific demonstrates the increasing value that our partners, including China, must place on our collective ability to think, live, engage and deliver," Puna told the meeting, according to the statement.

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told reporters after the meeting the Pacific nations were prioritising consensus.

"Geopolitical point-scoring means less than little to anyone whose community is slipping beneath the rising seas, whose job is being lost to the pandemic, or whose family is impacted by the rapid rise in the price of commodities," Bainimarama said.

Bainimarama spoke with new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a call on Monday evening.

The United States, Australia, Japan and New Zealand have expressed concerns about a security pact signed by the Solomon Islands with China last month, saying it had regional consequences and could lead to a Chinese military presence close to Australia and in a strategic position in the Pacific.

Wang will travel to the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga for a two-day visit on Tuesday.

 

Anthony Albanese’s deputy leader – Labor’s proclaimed Pacific guru Richard Marles – only months ago argued that island ­nations should be free to hook up in any way they liked with Beijing and dismissed fears about China setting up military bases in places such as the Solomons.

China gains a foothold in Australia's backyard

29 March

IMAGE SOURCE,AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

Image caption,

Australian soldiers deployed to the Solomon Islands last year to restore calm after riots

Late last week, a proposed security treaty between China and a tiny chain of islands in the Pacific sent shock waves across the ocean.

The leaked draft signalled that China could deploy troops to the Solomon Islands - and potentially establish a naval base there.

Nowhere was more alarmed than the Solomons' neighbour to the south, Australia - the bedrock regional partner of the Aukus alliance, a new security pact in the Pacific Ocean with the US and UK.

"The details of this deal are still uncertain. But even if it's smaller than the feared military base, it would be China's first foothold in the Pacific," says Prof Allan Gyngell from the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

The Solomon Islands and Australia have long been interlinked. Since World War Two, Australia has been the islands' largest aid donor, development partner and until now the sole security partner.

Australia's government was rocked and likely blindsided by the move, analysts say. Not that it hadn't been warned. Five years ago, Canberra sensed that China was encroaching on its "backyard" with Solomon internal politics at the time also driving up Chinese loans and economic investment.

That prompted Canberra to push back with a "step-up" policy - where it refocused attention on its "Pacific family" and ramped up its own aid flows.

But China's elevation to security partner status alongside Australia, clearly exposes how Canberra's engagement policy has failed, analysts say.

• Solomon Islands profiled
• Aukus pact could signal power shift in Asia-Pacific
• Australia ups Pacific role to counter China

"The objective had to be to stop something like this happening. You can't read it any other way - this is a failure of Australian diplomacy," says Prof Gyngell.

It's not just a big deal for Australia. The Aukus pact, announced only six months ago, is aimed at countering China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. The US and other Western allies have all expressed concern about it becoming another potential theatre of conflict.

What is being talked about?

Solomons' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has stridently defended his nation's right to seek security deals with China - on top of existing infrastructure and other business investments.

"We have no intention, Mr Speaker, of pitching into any geopolitical power struggle," he told parliament on Tuesday, saying his nation would not "pick sides".

He has not confirmed if the leaked draft was the finalised version. But the content of that draft was so broad and expansive, it caused immediate alarm.

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,

The Solomon Islands ditched links with Taiwan for official diplomatic ties with China in 2019

The agreement set out clauses where China could send navy ships for "stopover and transition" in the islands - raising concerns about a potential military base.

It also allows for Beijing to deploy forces to protect Chinese people and Chinese projects on the islands. The Solomons could request China send "police, armed police, military personnel and other law enforcement and armed forces", according to the draft.

"You have the scope for China to deploy any kind of personnel… and it's not clearly defined the parameters of deployment or the authority those forces would have," said Mihai Sora, a Pacific Islands analyst from the Lowy Institute in Australia.

Compared to the Solomon's only other security agreement - with Australia - it's much more far-reaching.

Australia's arrangement is largely to do with peacekeeping, allowing for a rapid deployment of troops, when requested, to the Solomon Islands, which has a long history of violent unrest.

Last year, it was activated again when deadly riots broke out in the capital Honiara - prompting troops to be sent over from Australia, as well as New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu.

China 'edge' raises hackles

The proposed security deal with China could alter the balance in the region.

"Security agreements have significance beyond just the terms they capture. They imply a degree of closeness, co-operation and trust between countries," said Mr Sora.

A Chinese military presence in the Pacific will also completely disrupt the "benign" environment that's been enjoyed by nations for decades - and which is currently collectively maintained by Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Forum nations.

Australia has raised concerns on how it could "undermine the stability and security of our region", while New Zealand spoke out against a "potential militarisation of the region".

Analysts say the threat of China on Australia's doorstop isn't about invasion; it's about much more immediate short-term concerns, such as Beijing improving intelligence gathering and monitoring.

Even a small Chinese military presence giving it a foothold in the South Pacific would be a consideration for Australia and a potential drain on its military resources.

"It's not so much about what would China's base in the Solomon Islands contribute in a time of conflict - we're nowhere near that," said Mr Sora.

"When you establish a military presence in a region, it excludes that region, excludes access to that region for other countries."

He said a worst case scenario could be an escalation in tensions to the dynamics of the South China Sea, where Beijing has built artificial islands in contested waters and placed military installations on them to deny passage for other nation's naval and air forces.

"Up until now, Australia and other Pacific countries have enjoyed being in a benign zone and having the freedom to move within our zone in the Pacific.

"So this brings in a clear, hard strategic edge to that competition."

East Timor’s new president pledges stronger ties with China

19 May 2022

DILI (Reuters) - East Timorese independence figure and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was inaugurated as the country's fifth president on Friday, pledging to dedicate his time in office to strengthen national unity and forge closer relations with China.

Ramos-Horta, who spent decades as the exiled spokesperson for the guerrilla movement during Indonesian occupation, previously served as president from 2007 to 2012 and prime minister and foreign minister before that.

Thousands travelled to watch the inauguration in the capital Dili, with the 72-year-old sworn in just before midnight in a ceremony replete with fireworks and cannon fire.

The new president said he would represent all Timorese, and seek to rebuild national unity after a protracted political impasse in the parliament.

Ramos-Horta, who won a decisive victory in a second round of voting last month, said ties with Indonesia, Australia, and the region should be at the top of the national agenda, and that relations with China would be strengthened.

"It is our intention to expand bilateral cooperation with China," he said.

"Especially in the areas of sustainable, organic agriculture, small industries, trade, new technologies, renewable energy, connectivity, digitalization, artificial intelligence and urban and rural infrastructure."

He said he would push for greater food security and propose creating a coffee fund to protect farmers against global price fluctuations.

One of the most oil-and-gas dependent countries in the world, the half-island nation of 1.3 million people has grappled with diversifying its economy and reducing high rates of poverty.

While he ran in the presidential elections as an independent candidate, Ramos-Horta was backed by the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) party, which is headed by former president and prime minister Xanana Gusmao.

Gusmao has strongly promoted the Tasi Mane project, which would see oil and gas from the Greater Sunrise field developed onshore, and with China touted as a potential developer.

Ramos-Horta also said he would continue to foster a special relationship with the United States, and advocate for East Timor to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The inauguration ceremony on Friday marked 20 years since the restoration East Timor's independence.