He introduced Tea House to his country 17 years ago. His
translation of the famous Chinese play was his way of bridging two
diverse cultures. So it's natural that as Serbia's ambassador to
China, Miomir Udovicki knows the importance of cultural,
educational and economic exchanges between China and Serbia, for
only regular exchanges can take bilateral ties to new heights.
"We consider China a traditional friend and a good and trusted
partner. We have a good understanding of one another's internal
developments, and we support the priorities of the other side,"
says Udovicki. It's this measure of understanding that will never
make Serbia shift from its adherence to the one-China policy, he
says.
On the economic front, Udovicki says his country wants deeper
ties with China. Trade between the two countries was worth more
than US$788 million last year, according to figures of the Serbian
embassy in China.
"To be frank, we have a very large trade deficit with China. But
I don't want to blame the Chinese side for it because China is not
only footwear and clothing. Those are only part of China. China is
a leading economic, technological and financial power in the
world."
That's why he wants Serbia to export more goods to China. He
also wants to attract more Chinese investment to his country,
through joint ventures perhaps. At present, only some big Chinese
firms such as the CITIC Group, Huawei Group and Sinochem
Corporation have a strong presence in Serbia, sharing their high
technologies with companies in that country. But Udovicki says his
country would love to welcome more Chinese investors in the fields
of telecommunication, electronic equipment and machinery.
Bilateral cultural exchanges have picked up of late, though. In
August last year, coinciding with the visit of State Councilor Tang
Jiaxuan, a Confucius Institute was set up in Belgrade, complete
with a faculty of Philology. It is the first of its kind in the
Balkans and is a supportive institution of high-quality higher
education for Serbs who want to learn Chinese language, literature
and history.
"We started Chinese classes in the early 1970s," says Udovicki,
who first came to China, Beijing Institute of Foreign Languages to
be precise, in 1981 to study Chinese. "Even at that time, I spoke
Chinese very well and had already translated some books."
One of the works he translated was Tea House, a powerful play
penned by Lao She (1899-1966), one of the most renowned
contemporary Chinese writers. The drama is set in a typical, old
Beijing teahouse and follows the lives of its owner and his
customers. With 60 characters drawn from all strata of society, it
gives an insight into modern Chinese history, its twists and turns
and the changes that took place over half a century.
The ambassador says his translation of the Tea House became very
popular with his countrymen, especially those keen on knowing more
about Chinese history and culture.
Udovicki loves the idea of Confucius Institutes. "China has a
long and great history. It's important that it promotes its
language and culture." He firmly believes the Confucius Institute
in Belgrade will deepen and expand bilateral cooperation.
He, however, would like to see more people-to-people exchanges
because it can better promote understanding between the two
countries. Public figures can sometimes do a diplomat's job better,
he says, citing the example of Bora Milutinovic. The Serbian was
head coach of the Chinese football team between 2000 and 2002. In
fact, China is one of the four countries that he led to the
ultimate competition in football.
"Milu (the Chinese nickname of Milutinovic) is almost a
legendary figure in China because he led the Chinese football team
to the 2002 World Cup finals. That was the first time China played
in the Cup finals, and he helped the Chinese become more familiar
with Serbia," Udovicki says.
Other Serbs active in China's football circle are Ratomir
Dujkovic, manager of the Olympic team and candidate for the
national head coach, and Misha Kosanovic, another candidate for the
head coach's post.
As a senior diplomat, Udovicki also knows how to make himself
understood when it comes to his country's stance on Kosovo, which
he says is of "crucial importance". The Serbian government is
trying to resolve the Kosovo issue in a "realistic and flexible"
way. The one important precondition is protecting Serbia's
territorial integrity.
His remarks come just two days ahead of Serbian Foreign Minister
Vuk Jeremic's visit to China. "We consider this visit very
important. This is a continuation of very good and constant
political dialogue."
Two subjects will be high on Jeremic's agenda: promotion of
bilateral economic ties and the Kosovo issue, Udovicki says. "We
will present our stance on Kosovo once again. It means we are very,
very much in favor of a flexible solution."
The UN has been running Serbia's southern province of Kosovo
since 1999 after 78 days of NATO bombing forced Serbian forces out.
Serbia has been saying repeatedly that Kosovo is an integral part
of the country and vowed to keep it within its border. But Kosovo,
where 90 percent of the 2 million population is ethnic Albanian,
wants to break away for good.
"We are offering a high-level of and substantial autonomy to
Kosovo," Udovicki says. "Kosovo will have legislative, judicial and
administrative powers. But what we insist on is that Serbians and
non-Albanians in Kosovo should be protected and that can (only) be
achieved through a kind of local autonomy."
He is highly impressed by China's principle of "one country, two
systems" in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
It's a great success, and a good example for resolving the Kosovo
issue. Hong Kong celebrated 10 years of its reunification with the
motherland in July, and that "shows the solution is workable. Hong
Kong is still very prosperous. So is Macao", Udovicki says.
But Serbia doesn't want to copy China to resolve the Kosovo
issue, he insists, because every problem is unique. "What we want
to do is find a specific way to protect our territorial
integrity."
"The international community should understand the Kosovo issue
is very complex, and can only be resolved in a unique way. A
resolution imposed forcibly or a unilateral proclamation of
independence can create a big problem for the region and even the
world," says Udovicki.
(China Daily September 11, 2007)
