The 66th Independence Day of Sri Lanka was celebrated at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing on Tuesday 04th February 2014 with the participation of the Sri Lankan community in China and the Chinese well wishers.
The ceremony began with the hoisting of the National Flag by Ambassador Ranjith Uyangoda followed by the singing of the National Anthem, observing two minutes silence paying tribute to the national heroes, lighting of the traditional oil lamp and the religious observances to bless the occasion and the country.
The National day messages of H.E. the President, the Hon. Prime Minister and the Hon. Minister of External Affairs were read in Sinhala, Tamil and English.
The Ambassador addressing the gathering highlighted the salient features of the Post Conflict development in Sri Lanka and the challenges faced by the government in the process and sought the understanding and co-operation of the expatriate community and well wishers for the government’s effort to realize the desired development targets as articulated in the “Mahinda Chinthana- Vision for the Future”.
The Ambassador also referred to the friendly relations between Sri Lanka and China which is now a Strategic Partnership Cooperation and lauded China’s development assistance to Sri Lanka.
The Ceremony concluded with the cake cutting, cultural performance by the children of the Embassy staff and a lunch hosted by the Ambassador at the Residence.
