Vanuatu has withdrawn last week's communiqué establishing
"diplomatic relations" with Taiwan and again stated its adherence
to a one-China policy.
"The Chinese government appreciates the statement of the Vanuatu
government," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhang Qiyue said on
Thursday at a regular news briefing.
The Vanuatu government had issued a statement the day before
that withdrew the communiqué signed in Taipei on November 3, in
which it had said it was establishing "diplomatic ties" with
Taiwan.
In the statement, Vanuatu reiterated its commitment to
Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly and to the one-China
policy in the joint communiqué issued on establishment of
diplomatic relations with China in 1982.
"The fact that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and that
the government of the People's Republic is the only legitimate
government representing China has been recognized by more than 160
countries in the world including Vanuatu and all important
international organizations including the UN," Zhang said.
She also expressed the government's sympathies over Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat's death. President Hu Jintao
sent a letter of condolence on Thursday to Rawhi Fattuh, speaker of
the Palestine Legislative Council.
To realize peace in the Middle East was Arafat's lifelong goal
and a common wish of the region, Zhang said, and China has always
been devoted to promoting this through dialogue.
Turning to the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula, Zhang
said a date for the next round of the six-party talks has not yet
been fixed.
Earlier, the Yonhap News Agency had quoted a senior official as
saying the countries involved -- China, Japan, Russia, the Republic
of Korea and the US -- had proposed unofficial talks for the end of
November, with a full fourth round in December.
Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing met with Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Tuesday, and discussed
bilateral relations and the nuclear issue, according to Chinese
Foreign Ministry sources.
On other subjects, Zhang said that China's commercial activities
in Iraq were all subject to the UN oil-for-food program and,
therefore, legitimate. All contracts had been approved by the UN's
661 Committee.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed an independent
team to look into whether all the program's activities have
complied with relevant UN resolutions, said Zhang. China expects
the team to clarify the relevant issues as soon as possible through
its detailed investigation.
Zhang also said that Hu's visits to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and
Cuba will further strengthen cooperation with them, and that
economic cooperation has developed well in the past years resulting
in large volumes of trade.
Hu will also make a short stopover in Spain at the end of his
Latin American tour.
(Sources including China Daily, Xinhua News Agency and
CRI.com, November 12, 2004)