Extracts.
Friday, November 17, 2000, updated at 09:03(GMT+8)
Jiang: Taiwan Issue Vital to Overall China-US
Relations
President Jiang Zemin told US President
Bill Clinton that the Taiwan issue is of
vital importance that may affect the
overall situation of China-US ties and
shake the very foundation of such
relations.
At a meeting with Clinton on the sideline of the 8th
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation informal leadership
meeting on November 16 in Bandar Seri Bagewan, Jiang
said that over the past 21 years since China and the
US established diplomatic relations, including the
past eight years of the Clinton administration, it
has been repeatedly demonstrated that proper handling
of the Taiwan issue is closely linked with the
stability, improvement and development of China-US
relations.
He urged the US government to honor its commitments
and explicitly support China's peaceful
reunification.
He told Clinton that "as long as the Taiwan
authorities accept the One-China principle,
consultation can start and proceed on all issues
across the Taiwan Straits on the basis of equality,"
adding that he believes a solution acceptable for
both sides can definitely be found.
Jiang said that China will continue to develop
relations across the Taiwan Straits and push forward
the reunification process in line with the basic
policy of "peaceful reunification" and "one country,
two systems" formulated by late Chinese leader Deng
Xiaoping and Jiang's eight-point proposal advanced in
1995.
He stressed that it cannot be tolerated if Taiwan
authorities seek "independence" or hold an illusion
about maintaining the current separated situation for
long.
Clinton pledged that the US government would continue
to observe the One-China policy.
The meeting would be the 10th and the last between
the two heads of state during the Clinton
administration. Jiang and Clinton held their first
meeting at the first APEC informal leadership meeting
in Seattle, Washington, USA, in November 1993.
****
Friday, November 17, 2000, updated at 09:36(GMT+8)
Iraqi President Receives Plane as Gift from Qatar
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has received a Boeing
747 passenger plane as a gift from Sheikh Hamad bin
Ali Al-Thani, head of the Qatari Saqar Airways, the
official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported November
16.
Al-Thani, who arrived in Iraq by the same plane on
November 16, was quoted by INA as saying that this
personal gift is a sign of solidarity with the Iraqi
leadership and people.
However, he denied that the gift has any political
implications. "It only reflects my sincere love of
the Iraqi people," he said.
Iraq has been under sweeping United Nations sanctions
ever since it invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
Qatar is among the Gulf countries which have resumed
full diplomatic relations with Iraq.
Saddam met with Al-Thani afterwards and extended
thanks for the gift.
Saddam, meanwhile, has ordered to present the plane
to the Iraqi Airways, which has to use refitted
helicopter planes for domestic flights, as there is
only one passenger plane left in the sanctions-hit
country.
Some 30 passenger planes subordinate to the Iraqi
Airways are now stranded in Jordan, Iran, Libya and
Tunisia and are waiting for permission to return to
Iraq.
In January 1991, just before the Gulf War broke out,
Iraq sent the planes to these countries to avoid
military attacks from the United States-led coalition
forces. The planes have since remained in these
countries and out of Iraq's possession.
****
No Concessions on One-China Principle: China's Vice Premier China will make
no concessions on the one-China principle and will tolerate no activities
aimed at splitting the country, Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen said
Thursday in Bandar Seri Bagewan.
Qian made the remarks when meeting US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger on the sidelines of the eighth
informal leadership meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum.
The Chinese government has repeatedly stated that as long as the leader of
the Taiwan authorities unequivocally recognizes the one-China principle,
consultations on all issues across the Taiwan Straits could begin and will
be conducted on the basis of equality, Qian stressed.
He said that China will continue to seek a resolution of the Taiwan issue
in line with its basic policy of "peaceful reunification" and "one country,
two systems," and the eight-point proposal of President Jiang Zemin on
promoting the peaceful reunification of the motherland.
Qian urged the US government to earnestly honor its commitments and handle
the Taiwan issue properly.
Berger reiterated that the United States will firmly observe its one-China
policy, and expressed the belief that whoever wins the presidential
election will maintain the continuity of the policy on the Taiwan issue
which is vital to the US-China relations.
****
Thursday, November 16, 2000, updated at 09:23(GMT+8)
Nearly One Thousand Corrupt Officials Prosecuted in
East China
East China's Jiangxi Province has increased efforts
to crack down on corrupt officials, and over the past
7 years, nearly 1,000 of them have been prosecuted.
Statistics indicate that since 1993, the province has
placed 40,000 major cases on file for prosecution,
and 949 corrupt officials have been prosecuted, with
54 of them above prefecture government level.
The biggest case came this March, when Vice-Governor
Hu Changqing was sentenced to death for bribery
charges. An provincial official said that four cases
involving people charged with bribing Hu have gone to
public trial in Jiangxi.
The official said that a number of major cases are
still under investigation, including the case
involving Han Jingchang, former deputy director of
the economic and trade commission of Jiangxi.
****
Tuesday, November 14, 2000, updated at 18:57(GMT+8)
China, Mexico Thrash out WTO Differences on APEC
Sidelines
China and Mexico inched closer on November 14 to
resolving differences blocking China's long-awaited
entry to the World Trade Organization, according to
chinadaily.com.cn.
Mexican Trade Minister Herminio Blanco said his talks
with Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng,
on the sidelines of an APEC meeting in Brunei, had
brought agreement nearer.
"It was a very productive meeting. We are discussing
different ideas and will continue to discuss these in
the hours to come," Blanco told reporters after he
emerged from the 90-minute meeting.
Mexico is the only member of the Geneva-based WTO
with which China has not completed bilateral talks to
enable its long-sought accession to the global trade
body.
The sole issue of anti-dumping duties was standing in
the way of agreement, the Mexican minister said on
the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Mexican President
Ernesto Zedillo are among Pacific-rim leaders
arriving in Brunei Tuesday for a two-day APEC summit
starting Wednesday.
Asked whether the two presidents could announce a
deal in Brunei, Blanco said: "Let's first see what
will be the result of the discussions in the hours to
come."
"We hope that through the work of the vice ministers
and through all the meetings in the hours and days to
come, we can advance."
A Chinese trade official said "the meetings
continue," but declined to comment further.
Blanco told Shi as they entered the meeting that
Mexico was "very happy with the protocol you have
sent us."
The draft protocol from China has formed the basis of
informal meetings between Chinese and Mexican vice
ministers in Brunei since Friday.
Mexico's Vice Trade Minister Luis de la Calle said
before the meeting began: "We are going to try to
sign (an agreement) before the end of the year."
China's head WTO negotiator, Long Yongtu, said in
Geneva last week that "major progress" had been
achieved towards China's accession in talks by a WTO
working party.
China must secure a bilateral agreement with Mexico
and a "multilateral accession protocol" with the
working party, to ensure that countries that did not
negotiate bilateral deals with it enjoy the same
trade concessions.
The working party will meet again from December 5 to
8.
Outstanding areas for agreement on the terms of
China's WTO membership include farming and industrial
policy.
China clinched a critical bilateral WTO agreement
with the United States a year ago, and with the
European Union last month.
A senior US official attending the APEC forum
said:"We certainly have high hopes that China can
accede to the WTO very soon."
"We'd be very pleased if it could happen within te
next couple of months," said the official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
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