Extracts.
Monday, November 13, 2000, updated at 12:16(GMT+8)
Jiang, Khamtay Reach Complete Consensus in Talks
President Jiang Zemin held talks with
Lao President Khamtay Siphandone on
November 12 in Vientiane, during which
the two heads of state reached complete
consensus on all issues they discussed.
Khamtay said that Jiang's tour, the
first paid by a Chinese head of state,
is "a visit of historical significance."
Only less than two months before the advent of a new
century, he said that the visit was paid to further
the Lao-Chinese relations and cooperation. "It was
very important to consolidate the friendly
cooperation between our two countries in the new
century," he said.
Khamtay also said the visit gave "tremendous support"
to the efforts made by Laos to defend and build its
country and push forward renovation and opening-up.
Jiang, in return, said that the frequent contacts
between Chinese and Lao leaders are important for the
growth of bilateral ties.
Jiang believed the visit will be fruitful and provide
guidance to the development of bilateral ties in the
new century.
"China and Laos share quite a number of similarities.
We two are neighboring countries, and also developing
countries," he said.
More, with both adhering to the socialist road, both
had to face the trial of choosing a right way before
entering the new century.
The two presidents reviewed the development and
historical experience of socialism in their talks.
Jiang pointed out that socialism has evolved from
utopian to scientific, from a social practice adopted
only by a single country to a number of countries
worldwide, from revolution to construction, opening
up a new road for the social progress of humanity and
greatly changing the world.
"The development of socialism is not plain sailing,"
he said. Communists worldwide are rethinking and
re-understanding the concept of socialism and how to
build socialism while exploring ways to develop
socialism tailoring to different national conditions,
he said.
Jiang said that the historical changes taken place in
China after the reform and opening-up is the result
of combining scientific socialism theory with China's
reality and can be considered as the successful
implementation of socialism in the East.
"It demonstrates that socialism represents the
progress of history and is a cause with hope and
vitality," he said.
On Sino-Lao ties, Jiang expressed his satisfaction.
"The characteristics of our ties can be summed up as
mutual trust, mutual support, equal treatment,
non-interference of the other's affairs, and sincere
cooperation," Jiang said.
He also extended gratitude for Laos' long-term
adherence to the One-China policy and support to
China's reunification cause.
Jiang told Khamtay that the Communist Party of China
and the Chinese government attached importance to the
consolidation of ties with Laos for the full-round
cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
Such relationship is in the interests of the two
peoples and conducive to peace and development in the
region, he noted.
China and Laos signed a joint declaration today.
Jiang said such a document set forth the future
development course in the new century. "That is to
develop our long-term, stable, good-neighborly,
friendly and mutually trust relationship," Jiang
said.
According to the Chinese president, China is willing
to keep frequent contacts with the Lao side at all
levels, for the contacts "form the basis of our
state-to-state ties."
He welcomed President Khamtay and other Lao leaders
to visit China more often. "China is ready to
communicate with Lao friends on various regional and
multi-lateral occasions," he said.
China will also strengthen the mutually beneficial
cooperation with Laos in economic and trade areas,
which still leave great potentials to tap, he said.
He told his Lao counterpart that the two countries
can further the cooperation in such areas as trade,
investment and agriculture, personnel training of
various departments, as well as the cooperation and
coordination in the East Asian region and other world
affairs.
After extending gratitude for Jiang's introduction,
Khamtay said that the Chinese theory of building
socialism with Chinese characteristics and its
experience gained in construction "are also conducive
to Laos."
The direction set forth by Jiang on developing
bilateral ties and his concrete ideas fully
demonstrated the mutual understanding, traditional
friendship and solidarity between the two countries
and the two peoples, he said.
The Lao president reiterated that Laos will firmly
adhere to the One-China policy and said China's
principle of "peaceful reunification and one country,
two systems" is correct and suitable to China's
national conditions. He believed that China's
reunification will be eventually achieved.
Khamtay also expressed satisfaction with the in-depth
and fruitful development of the Lao-Chinese
relationship and extended gratitude for China's
support and assistance to Laos in various fields at
different periods.
"Laos is willing to further strengthen the
comprehensive, long-term, mutually-beneficial and
fruitful cooperation with China," he said.
Khamtay briefed Jiang on the Lao renovation and
opening-up drive and the future social and economic
development program. Jiang highly praised the changes
taken place in Laos after its renovation and
opening-up campaign.
New achievements were made after the Sixth Congress
of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Jiang said.
Laos has successfully mitigated the Asian financial
crisis while maintaining its national and social
stability and its agricultural production has shown
signs of positive rebound, he said.
The two heads of state also exchanged views on
current international situation.
****
Monday, November 13, 2000, updated at 09:24(GMT+8)
Saudi Arabia Calls for Lowering Arab Ties With Israel
Saudi Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz November 12 further pressed
the Islamic countries, that still have official
relations with Israel, to downgrade or freeze these
ties in a sign of support to the Palestinians and
other Arabs.
"How could some (Arab) countries continue having
relations with Israel?" asked Abdullah, at a special
session on the situation in the Palestinian
territories held during the ninth summit of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
He urged the Arab countries to "downgrade or at least
freeze relations until progress was made in the peace
process, not only on the Palestinian-Israeli track
but on all other tracks."
At present, only three Arab states - Egypt, Jordan
and Mauritania - are maintaining diplomatic relations
with Israel. Qatar, the host country of the ninth OIC
summit, shut down Israel's commercial office in Doha
last Thursday, in response to mounting pressures from
the Islamic world.
Meanwhile, the Saudi leader called for severing
relations with any country that shifts its embassy to
Al Qods (Jerusalem), which the Islamic nation regards
as a Muslim holy city and the capital of a future
independent Palestinian state.
He stressed that just and durable peace requirements
would be met only when the Israeli side is committed
to basis and principles of the Middle East peace
process, which was launched in 1993.
Saudi Arabia first decided to boycott the Doha OIC
summit on grounds that "the condition necessary to
hold such a meeting are not met yet because of the
deteriorating situation in the Palestinian
territories. But Riyadh recalled the boycott
following Qatar's closure of the Israeli trade
office.
Abdullah, who has been taking care of his country's
administrative affairs since Saudi King Fahd suffered
a stroke in mid 1990s, urged Islamic countries to
forge a common and effective strategy to rein in the
Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.
The three-day OIC summit coincides with the
six-week-long Palestinian-Israeli clashes that have
claimed the lives of over 180
****
Monday, November 13, 2000, updated at 09:24(GMT+8)
Two Egyptians Wounded by Gunfire Near Border with
Palestine
Two Egyptian farmers were wounded Sunday by gunfire
in Rafah bordering southern Gaza, Egypt's Middle East
News Agency reported.
Egyptian police were quoted as saying that the
bullets came from Israeli soldiers who were shooting
at Palestinian demonstrators on the other side of the
border.
The two Egyptians were harvesting their olives near
Salaheddin Street in Rafah, about 400 meters from the
borderline when they were hit by stray bullets. The
border line across the town separates Rafah into two
parts, one of which is under Egypt's North Sinai
governorate.
The border town between Egypt and the Palestinian
territories has been closed by Israeli security
forces for much of the last month since the eruption
of bloody clashes between Palestinian protesters and
Israeli soldiers on September 28.
This is the first time that Egyptian civilians were
injured by bullet splinters when Israeli troops were
firing on Palestinians.
It was reported that last month when Israeli soldiers
shot at Palestinian youths who threw rocks and
bottles at them, some stray bullets had hit buildings
in the town across the border on the Egyptian side,
where 40,000 people live.
But Egypt denied there was such an incident.
****
Jiang, Sihanouk Hail Sino-Cambodian Friendship
Visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin said November 13 in Phnom Penh that
the Chinese government and people will consistently support the just cause
of Cambodia.
Jiang's remarks came in his meeting with Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk
soon after he arrived here for a two-day state visit.
As the first Chinese head of state to visit this neighboring country since
1963, Jiang, together with the Chinese delegation, was honored at a grand
welcome ceremony hosted by the Cambodian royal family and almost all
Cambodian leaders and senior officials at the airport.
"We were overwhelmed by friendship and joy," Jiang told King Sihanouk as
soon as he stepped onto Cambodian land. He said he deeply felt "the
sentiments of the Cambodian people toward the Chinese people."
King Sihanouk, in reply, said that Monday was "the festive occasion for our
whole country" for "we welcome the most distinguished guest, President
Jiang Zemin, from great China."
A total of 180,000 Phnom Penh citizens lined the streets from the airport
to the Royal Palace to welcome Jiang and the delegation. "In this way, we
show our lofty respect and warm welcome," the king said.
Jiang's visit is "of historic significance" and will "definitely promote
the further growth of our traditional friendship," he said.
King Sihanouk said the Cambodian people will never forget the "sincere and
selfless assistance" from China "either in our fight for defending
sovereignty or in the years of reconstruction." He availed himself of the
opportunity to extend the "deepest gratitude" to China.
Jiang said China and Cambodia, two friendly neighboring nations, have
consistently sympathized with, supported and helped each other and their
relationship has become a model for developing equal and mutually
beneficial ties on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful
Coexistence.
He particularly praised the outstanding contributions of King Sihanouk to
the consolidation and growth of Sino-Cambodian ties during the past decades
and his personal friendship with three generations of Chinese leaders,
saying such contributions have won great respect from the Chinese people.
****
Vice-President Hu Jintao on CPC Ideological Work More efforts should be
made to enhance the ideological and theoretical work of the Communist Party
of China (CPC) in line with the world's changing situation and the
country's modernization drive, Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao stressed
November 12 in Shanghai.
"Party building is fundamentally ideological and political building, and
the core of which is theory building," said Hu, also president of the Party
School of the CPC Central Committee, at a research class of the school held
in Shanghai, November 8-12.
He noted that the Party's theory is directly concerned with the survival or
fall of the CPC and the future of the country, adding that a powerful
Marxist Party should be equipped with powerful theories.
The basic principle of enhancing ideological and theoretical work of the
Party is to adhere to and consolidate the guiding position of Marxism,
Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping's theory in the country's
ideological field, Hu noted.
He called for more achievements to be made in the Party's theory research
by actively exploring the law of development of the socialist economy,
politics and culture with Chinese characteristics.
Jiang said China is delighted to see the growth of China-Cambodia ties in
recent years and one of the key objectives of his visit is to further
enhance such traditional friendly cooperation in the new century.
China and Cambodia are to sign a joint statement and other documents later
Monday to boost their cooperation.
Jiang said the joint statement, which will serve as the guidance to the
development of bilateral relations in the future, will point out the
direction and cooperation areas in the new century.
With the leadership of King Sihanouk, Jiang said, a peaceful and stable
situation has emerged in Cambodia. "The new Cambodian government has scored
noteworthy results in their work domestically and internationally thanks to
its solidarity and cooperation," he said.
As a good neighbor, friend and partner of Cambodia, Jiang said, China will
consistently support King Sihanouk and the Cambodian people in safeguarding
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and maintaining the
hard-won peaceful and stable situation.
Jiang again expressed his sympathy with Cambodia, which suffered serious
floods this year. He believed that under the leadership of King Sihanouk,
the Cambodian people will overcome the temporary difficulties and make
greater accomplishments in this land with a long and glorious civilization.
King Sihanouk fully agreed with Jiang's remarks on Sino-Cambodian
friendship and highly commended the achievements made by China in all
aspects under the leadership of President Jiang.
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