Major General Khaled Almraeed (Retd)

On the National Day, we remember the founder King Abdulaziz and his heroism, and his sacrifices and great achievements that we enjoy today.

The 91st Glorious National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has come, and the Saudis see it as a special day to celebrate and be proud of their great achievements of their nine decades of unity, strength, prosperity and progress.

The Saudis also see it as a special national day, because it is not an independence day as in most countries. We did not submit to colonialism and colonialists, but rather our rulers were from us, and this in itself is an unmatched honor for every Saudi citizen. A pride that lifts the morale of the Saudi people at its highest levels and prepares them resistant to the hostile targeting.

Celebrating the National Day is important for any country that believes in the homeland and patriotism. It enhances belonging and strengths and makes the citizen enthusiastic and proud of his country, his leadership and his achievements, which makes him defend desperately and in a high spirit for these gains.

Our national day is important, by which we remember the many blessings we enjoy in this great country, and we thank God and praise Him for His grace and success.

We recall the unity after separation, security after fear, knowledge after ignorance, and health and wellness after disease.

On the National Day, we remember the founder King Abdulaziz – may God have mercy on him – and his heroism, and his sacrifices and great achievements that we enjoy today.

We also remember our heroes on the southern border and everywhere who strive to protect the borders and sanctities. We are proud of them and we pray to God for their success and victory.

On this national occasion, we as citizens must be proud of the homeland, its leadership and its achievements, and to devote citizenship in word and deed in every action, and to be strong around our wise leadership.

It is no secret to the sons of the homeland that the homeland and its leadership are subjected to malicious campaigns aimed at stopping the great goals that our courageous leadership seeks, which whenever it is subjected to more attacks and challenges, the more brilliance and strength it is as usual for the greats.

In any case, we are stepping together on the path of glory towards further growth, development and strength.

We ask God, the Ever-Living, to preserve and grant success to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and to his faithful Crown Prince, Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, and to protect the country from the plots of the plotters.

Original first published on Al Riyadh in Arabic. Translated by Millichronicle.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has recently ramped up pressure on Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty, including sending fighter jets near the democratically-run island.

The Pacific is a major source of competition between the two, where Taiwan has formal diplomatic relations with four countries, though not Fiji. China says Taiwan is one of its provinces, with no right to full ties with foreign countries.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the incident happened on the evening of Oct. 8 at a Taiwan national day reception organized by Taiwan’s representative office in Fiji, where two Chinese diplomats tried to force their way in to take pictures and collect information on who was attending.

Violence ensued after Taiwanese diplomats tried to prevent them from entering, and a Taiwanese diplomat was sent to hospital with a head injury, the ministry said.

Fiji police forced the Chinese diplomats from the venue, who later said it was them who were attacked by Taiwanese diplomats, the ministry added.

Neither China nor Fiji’s foreign ministry immediately responded to requests for comment.

Speaking in parliament, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Tseng said: “We are still looking at whether this represents common behavior or was an isolated incident. But we condemn these irrational acts by the Chinese diplomats.”

Larry Tseng, the head of the ministry’s East Asia and Pacific affairs department, said the Chinese were trying to work out whether any Fijian politicians were present at the event.

There were injuries on both sides in the “pushing and shoving” that took place between the Chinese and Taiwanese diplomats, he added. 

Ninety years since the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and 122 years since the restoration of Riyadh and the establishment of the Saudi homeland at the hands of the great leader, King Abdulaziz—may God have mercy on him. We celebrate this day to energize all our patriotic feelings, to reinforce the sense of belonging, cohesion and pride. We also take pride in this great nation, its leadership, its achievements, and the unique characteristics of its blessed land, which is hard to find in any other country.

Also, when we celebrate this glorious day, we remember the one who had the greatest merit after God, and he was King Abdulaziz. We pray to God for mercy and forgiveness for him, and his companions who participated with him in forming the unity—because of which we today enjoy unity, harmony, security and prosperity. It is indeed the result of the effort of this great king who spent his whole life struggling and sacrificing, so that the subsequent generations could enjoy these achievements that we are proud of today.

When the traveler travels the vast distances between the parts of the Kingdom, he can witness this great effort made by King Abdulaziz to unify these different lands and regions. You will surely sense that the people of this country are all convinced of belonging to this country. There are strong and many reasons that reinforce this conviction, and the evidence for this is despite the expansion of the Kingdom which is approximately the size of a continent, every single citizen feels the sense of belonging and love for this country contrary to what many countries in the Arab world suffer from disruption and insecurity today.

Every Saudi citizen thanks the wise and resolute leadership to preserve the country and everything that enhances its security, unity, interests and prosperity, irrespective of Saudi citizens of different regions and sects. Their love and pride for their country and their keenness towards national cohesion, and leadership is evident.

The country is currently living its best days under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his trustworthy Crown Prince His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.

We live in an era of firmness, determination, progress, prosperity and planning for the future. Every Saudi citizen feels that he is in safe hands and everything that the state does is in the interest of the homeland. We are all concerned about and we will reap the benefits of all this in the future.

On the National Day, we are proud of what has been achieved in the past, and we pledge as Saudis to preserve the achievements of King Abdulaziz, and we acknowledge our present full of building achievements, strength and development, reinforced by belonging and patriotism, and we are optimistic about a promising and prosperous future which is promising great goodness, God willing.

We ask God to preserve our wise leadership and to grant them success for all good, and to preserve this honorable nation and its honorable children.

Khaled Almraeed is specialized in military and strategic affairs. He is author of a book on the restoration of Riyadh 1319 from a military and strategic perspective. He tweets under @khaledalmraeed.

Article first published in Al Riyadh in Arabic.