“We also told representatives of the State Department that what we had with the United States over the years was a strategic partnership on paper. It had no real substance. As for our strategic partnership with China, and now the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, this is not a partnership on paper; it has concrete content and tangible results. This is what we are telling the American administration - that they should approach the restoration of strategic partnership with Georgia in the same way,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.

According to him, the U.S. administration itself is making every effort to deepen relations with China and therefore cannot have any objective criticism of Georgia’s cooperation with Beijing.

“First of all, I would ask you not to let Joe Wilson hear about this briefing. Also, do not tell him that his president, Donald Trump, paid an official visit to China. If he finds that out, I think he might get worried, and given his age, that would not be good for him.

As for a serious approach, we see that the United States itself, its administration and the State Department, are doing their utmost to deepen U.S.-China relations. Under such circumstances, the American authorities cannot have any objective criticism regarding Georgia’s efforts to deepen relations with China. Joe Wilson is one thing, but when we are talking about the American administration, if it is itself striving to strengthen ties with China, it cannot criticize others for doing the same. That would simply be illogical.

I hope the American administration will take as an example what I spoke about today. We spoke very frankly about this during our most recent meeting with State Department representatives. We told them that what existed as a strategic partnership with the United States over the years was a strategic partnership only on paper and lacked any real substance. By contrast, our strategic partnership with China, and now our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, is not a paper partnership - it has concrete content and concrete results.

We are telling the American administration that it should approach the restoration of strategic partnership with Georgia in exactly the same way. Such a partnership must have substance, mutual benefits, and a clear roadmap. Just as we are working with China, we hope to work with the American administration in the future,” Kobakhidze said.

He also stressed that Georgia is highly resilient in the face of external pressures and challenges despite its size.

“We are very resilient; for a country of our size, it is rare to find a nation more resilient than Georgia. For example, we are very resilient in relation to the European Union, and we are also resilient in the face of regional challenges. Twenty percent of our territory is occupied, which itself is a challenge, yet our country remains resilient in the face of every challenge.

That resilience is especially noteworthy considering that we are a country of four million people, with a small territory and a $38 billion economy. Under these circumstances, our resilience against external forces deserves recognition.

For 14 years, we have been focused on resisting harmful external influences in Georgia, and only after all these years have we fully strengthened our country’s independence and sovereignty. We achieved this precisely because we stood firmly against harmful external influence,” Kobakhidze stated.