(Tsinghua News Centre) Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of the Republic of Latvia, told students and faculty in a speech this week that a goal of her presidency is to strengthen every aspect of the relationship between Latvia and China.

The shared wishes of the two countries to ensure world peace and stability, to combat terrorism and international crime, and to curtail poverty and disease, “have reduced the importance of the geographical distance that separates us,” Dr. Vike-Freiberga said in her April 14 address.

In addition, she said the two nations “have experienced similar turns of fate in their history,” facing invasions by various powers in a series of devastating armed conflicts over the past centuries, which have given them a deeper understanding of each other and led to similar development approaches.

“I believe that part of China’s success lies in the fact that China, like Latvia, has continued to hold its traditional values in high regard, while remaining open to developments in the outside world,” Dr. Vike-Freiberga said.

Reviewing the ongoing collaboration between Latvia and China, specifically several economic cooperation agreements, notably in the field of transport, that were signed during this visit to China, she stressed her hope that Tsinghua students would take this relationship to a new level in the future.

Focusing on the relations of Latvia with China and Europe, Dr. Vike-Freiberga said she believed that with the assistance of EU funding, the country would be able to modernize its economy and attain a standard of living comparable to that of its Western neighbors after it becomes a formal member of the EU on May 1. Latvia’s qualified and highly educated workforce, she said, particularly in the fields of science and technology, would also contribute a great deal to EU.

In the Q & A with students after her speech, Dr. Vike-Freiberga, who is a former college professor, encouraged them to face challenges bravely.

Dr. Vike-Freiberga obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from universities in Canada. She was a psychology professor before she started her political career in Latvia in 1998.

Vice Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng and Tsinghua President Gu Binglin met with Dr. Vike-Freiberga before the speech.

(Reported by Huang Ruixi)

（Photoed by Guo Haijun)