Xinhua News Agency, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 27 Close-up: “A strong motherland is our strong backing!” ——The Chinese Navy’s Sudanese evacuation warship arrives at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia
Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Guan Wang Haizhou
At 10:00 a.m. local time on the 27th, two silver-gray warships slowly sailed into the port of Jeddah in western Saudi Arabia, with the five-star red flag on their masts waving in the wind. On the pier, the welcoming crowd unfurled a huge five-star red flag and unfurled a red banner that said “Welcome the compatriots of the motherland to return to the warm harbor”.
Chinese naval ships carried 678 evacuees from Sudan across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, of whom 668 were Chinese citizens and 10 were foreigners. On the pier, staff from the Chinese embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia, the media and Chinese-funded institutions lined up to welcome compatriots and foreign friends.
Next to the welcoming crowd was a convoy of buses preparing to transport evacuees, and Saudi military police patrolled nearby.
The guided missile destroyer Nanning of the Chinese Navy and the integrated supply ship Weishanhu slowly docked into the berths. The huge hulls of the two ships filled two-thirds of the berths of the pier. Before disembarking from the ship, the crew interacted enthusiastically with the crowd on the shore. Everyone waved their national flags vigorously to greet each other.
The gangway was lowered, men, women and children on board carried their luggage and filed down waving the national flag. Navy soldiers helped everyone carry their luggage and hold their children. Although they have just left the war-torn area, everyone looks relaxed at the moment.
Chen Lihui is an employee of the Blue Sky Hotel in Sudan. When she was interviewed by a reporter from Xinhua News Agency, she kept repeating a sentence: “A strong motherland is our strong backing!” Xiao Yongjian, who is doing business in Sudan and from Hubei, said: “Thanks to the country! Seeing our warship, I feel the strength of our motherland, and I am very proud.”
15-year-old Xu Yiman is a freshman in Khartoum, Sudan. Her father is Sudanese and her mother is Chinese. Talking about the feelings of the evacuation process, the little girl smiled and said: “When I saw the Chinese warship, I thought it was really cool! The brothers and sisters on the warship took good care of me.”
Tang Sining, a staff member of the Nanning warship, told reporters that there was an 11-year-old boy among the evacuees. When he stepped on the warship and got a bottle of domestic mineral water, he said excitedly: “I have arrived in the motherland.” It was mentioned that when a lady in her 30s and 40s was evacuated from Port Sudan, her eyes were filled with tears from the moment she passed the security gate. Ding Jiaxing said: “At that moment, I felt a rush of enthusiasm, and I deeply felt the pride and responsibility of being a People’s Navy.”
As the main coordinator of the naval evacuation operation in Saudi Arabia, Yin Lijun, the charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Saudi Arabia, said that the Party Central Committee’s decision to send an escort formation to pick up our personnel again fully reflects our party’s people-centered development concept. Always put people’s safety first. “The ‘thousands of miles home’ of Chinese citizens is the ‘thousands of miles journey’ of Chinese diplomats. We will be the ‘left behind’ and ‘rebels’ in the face of difficulties and dangers, and do our best to safeguard the safety and legal rights of our overseas citizens and institutions.”
During the disembarkation process of the evacuees, songs such as “Singing the Motherland” and “My Motherland and Me” were played live. The beautiful melody made the atmosphere at the pier more lively.
Before boarding the bus, an evacuee turned around and tightly held the hand of a navy soldier, saying excitedly, “Brothers, thank you! We will meet later.”
In the distance, the five-star red flags on two naval warships became more dazzling under the strong sunlight.
Editor: Zheng Jianlong