On May 3, 2025, Chinese Acting Consul General in Willemstad Mr. Wang Fanfu published an article titled Seeking Common Grounds in Much of a Muchness While Reserving Difference--My impression of Curacao within 180 days on Antilliaans Dagblad. The content is as follows:

Time stops for no one, and the seasons keep changing. Till the end of April, I will have been in the Dutch Caribbean for 6 months. Within the past 180 days, I enjoy beautiful beaches, local cuisines, and the friendship with local folks of all walks of life. In Curacao, especially, I develop my initial impression, the one would be out of expectation of many souls.

I like making comparisons, as it helps me deepen the apprehension about true natures of things. Out of this habit, I compare China and Curacao and find out an interesting fact that both lands share at least 3 similarities, which appears even more surprisingly to notice one is an Asian country with a population of 1.4 billion and an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, and the other is an island with a population of 150 thousands and an area less than 500 square kilometers.

Firstly, it is about the hospitality. In the era of globalization, the connection between China and the world is getting more and more close, and many touching stories spread globally when Chinese people receive foreigners with honest warmth. Recent years have witnessed more foreign tourists visiting China after China had implemented unilateral visa waiver policy for some countries. Quite a few western online influencers excitedly shared their experiences in China of being well treated with generosity and open minds, shaking off the prejudices of western media and showcasing a more real and charming China.

So are Curacao’s people, who are very friendly to the foreign visitors and immigrants. They are mostly the descendants from Africans and Europeans, and it is very easy for them to recognize me as an East-Asian. I enjoy many happy hours of chatting with my neighbour, shop-owners, and street vendors. My colleagues have similar experiences, too. They, when walking beside the road in the scorching sunlight, would be asked kindly by the local drivers for a free ride. Wow, these are the moments of universal love and amity!

Secondly, it is about multicultural beauty. The popular Chinese lyric 56 ethnic groups are 56 flowers sings of the eternal theme of Chinese ethnic unity, as President Xi Jinping called for more efforts to promote it so that all ethnic groups could be together "like seeds of a pomegranate". In actual life, either the group of Han, which accounts for the largest portion of the total population, or any of the minority groups like Zang, Uyghur, Mongol, Hui......enjoys the equalized political rights and social status, thus contributing the respective special share to the overall Chinese culture throughout thousands of years. The difference of history, inhabitant dimension and living custom among 56 groups are but the fact of existence rather than the judgment standard of superiority or inferiority.

Curacao is a multi-ethnic society featured with multicultural colors. A small island as it is, Curacao is mixed with various cultures from Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Caribbean regions. Just listen to the local music! It has drum-beating originated from Africa, energetic raps frequently used in western hip-pop music, and the rhymes and flavors specially born in tropical areas. Walking in the street, you will see low-rise buildings of Caribbean countries and the brightly colourful blocks of Dutch as well. Take a look at the dashing vehicles! You see a furnace of Toyota, Honda, KIA, BMW, Audi......But to my surprise, there are so many Chinese Chang’an vehicles imported from tens of thousands of miles afar!

Thirdly, both China and Curacao have been through the dark colonized days and facing the uneasy task of comprehensive development. Like other islands in the Caribbean, Curacao was once occupied by European powers and became the single agricultural product supplier to the western world. Since 2010 when it gained its autonomous governance, Curacao has been building its own political parties, fruitfully improving local economy, and maintaining close cooperation with the outer world. In my eyes, Curacao has much more potential to be further explored: tourism resources, deep blue resources, green resources and various sunrise industries such as digital economy, financial service, modern logistics, cross-border e-commerce, etc. Endowed with special advantages in geology and multilingual skills, Curacao is defining herself as a glorious pearl in the vastness of the Caribbean Sea with its sparkling beauty shining in the sunlights of talents, passion and freedom.

So it is with China. Since 17th century, China, having once been playing the leading role in the world civilization, had gradually declined due to her internal chaos and the impact of early period of western modernization. The Opium War, as the last straw, broke out in 1840, hurling China into the abyss of unprecedented tears and blood. From then on, China had gradually became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society until Chinese Communist Party, founded in 1921 by only 12 young men with lofty ambition and courage, led entire Chinese nation to overcome numerous difficulties, pay tremendous prices, and finally built the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Within almost 80 years till today, China has set up the Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, implemented the reform and opening-up policy, and realized the most extensive and deepest social reform throughout Chinese history, thus successfully improving and developing Chinese modernization.

Chinese modernization is the significant achievement accomplished by her people led by Chinese Communist Party over more than 100 years of painstaking efforts, hardship and sacrifice. This is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. It is based on China’s national reality, and absorbs essentials of modern civilization. It benefits the Chinese people, and promotes common development of the world. 

In much sense, Chinese path to modernization has similar logic and significance with what Curacao has been sticking to: good governance, sustainable development and stable economic and financial policies. We both hope to enhance the political efficiency, to realize an inclusive and sustainable development, and to maintain a positive interaction with the world, i.e. to enjoy national prosperity by safeguarding the world peace and development and to help to build up a more peaceful and wealthier planet by developing ourselves.

The world today is undergoing both transformation and upheaval. Unity or split, peace or conflict, cooperation or confrontation – these are the questions raised again and again by our times. The global situation has come to even more severe recently when US absurdly imposed tariff hikes on other countries, violating the WTO rules and destabilizing the international order and justice. As far as tariff and trade wars are concerned, many countries, including some US citizens with real insights, realized that the logic of U.S. is both arbitrary and irrational. The U.S.’s recent extortionate tariff hikes on China have become a numbers game, which economically does not make much actual difference anymore, except further demonstrating how the U.S. weaponizes tariff to coerce and bully others. China does not want to fight those wars but neither are we afraid of them. If the U.S. continues to play this numbers game with tariffs, it will simply be ignored. But if the U.S. continues to inflict actual damage on China’s rights and interests, China will respond with resolute countermeasures and will stand our ground to the end.

Just as the greatest truths are the simplest, so all roads lead to Rome. Although China has so great differences in physical dimension and cultural textures when compared with various economic entities of either region and continent, yet we are all much of a muchness in the destination and aspiration of seeking for the development and well-being. China, as a force for peace, stability and progress in the international community, firmly supports developing countries in the areas like Latin-America, Africa, and Asia to safeguard their sovereignty, security and development, and in recent years carries out fruitful cooperation with relevant countries in the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, which is both conducive to local social progress and global governance. For those who would choose to sit in judgement on China, they are either ignorant of the real fact or mean to plant the Apple of Discord out of cold-war mentality.

As for China, it is always willing to seek common grounds and hold friendly cooperation with all the parties and firmly oppose unilateralism, protectionism and economic coercion, so as to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system with the core of WTO as well as global economic stability. China was, is and will be ready to work with all parties to advocate a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, to propose a equal and orderly multi-polarization, and to promote to establish a community with a shared future for mankind with an aim to create a more desirable vista of the peace and development on our planet.  

I always remember the last sentence in the worldly famous novel Gone with the Wind: Tomorrow is another day. I have always been confident, therefore, that as long as we follow the correct trend of the era and keep in mind the basic interests of our creative and respected people, both China and Curacao shall be able to walk on the right path featuring with peace and prosperity, openness and mutual benefit. Yes, we shall meet an even better tomorrow, and so shall all the people in the world upholding the principles of justness and fairness.