International

`U.S. will adhere to One China policy'

The U.S. President, George W. Bush (left), with the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, during an official welcome ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Thursday. — AP

Beijing, Feb. 21. China and the U.S. today downplayed their differences on the Taiwan issue even as the U.S. President, George W Bush, asked Beijing to help stop proliferation of missiles and other deadly technologies.

"My Government hopes China will strongly oppose the proliferation of missiles and other deadly technologies," Mr. Bush said at a joint press conference with the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, after their closed-door meeting. Touching on Taiwan, Mr. Bush stressed the need for a "peaceful settlement" to the issue and said the U.S. will adhere to the "One China" policy.

Mr. Jiang said, "To properly handle the Taiwan question is vital to the stability and growth of China-U.S. relations. In my meeting with President Bush, I have elaborated on the Chinese Government's basic position of peaceful reunification and the "one country, two systems" for the solution of the Taiwan question...''

Mr. Bush's visit to China on the last leg of his Asia tour comes exactly 30 years to the day after the landmark visit of the former President, Richard Nixon.

Mr. Bush praised Mr. Jiang for his assistance in fighting terror and thanked him for his "strong support" in the war. "We recognise that terrorism is a threat to both our countries and I welcome China's co-operation in the fight against terrorism," he said. U.S.-China relations are "mature" and "important" to the world, he said.

Describing Sino-U.S. dialogue as "candid", Mr. Jiang said his discussions with Mr. Bush achieved "positive" results on bilateral and international issues of mutual concern.

"In our talks today, President Bush and I reviewed 30 years of Sino-U.S. relations and had in-depth discussions on bilateral relations and the current international situation," Mr. Jiang said.

"We agreed to step up consultations and co-operation in this regard on a two-way and mutually beneficial basis, and reinforce medium-and long-term mechanisms for anti-terror exchanges and cooperation between the two countries," he said.

We have reached consensus on many important issues and achieved positive results in many areas," he said.

Mr. Jiang tried to side-step questions on the thorny issue of religious freedom at the press conference but when they persisted he said everyone should abide by China's laws and faith in a religion was not going to exempt them from legal action.

"Whatever religion people believe in, they have to abide by the law, so some of the lawbreakers were detained because they violated laws not because of their religious belief." — PTI

Taiwan pleased

AFP reports from Taipei:

The Taiwan Foreign Minister, Eugene Chien, today hailed Mr. Bush for not trading away the island's interests to Beijing.

Mr. Chien said the closed-door meeting between Mr. Bush and Mr. Zemin suggested there remained differences to be tackled. As to the Taiwan issue, Mr. Chien said: "The press conference showed the result of the discussions entirely match our forecast..." Mr. Chien voiced his gratitude to Mr. Bush for "having honoured his commitment" he pledged to Taipei before his Asian trip, which also took him to Japan and South Korea.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman had said ahead of Mr. Bush's departure for Asia that Washington had assured Taipei its interests would not be harmed. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry has set up an ad hoc group to monitor the trip around-the-clock and report to the President, Chen Shui-bian. Taipei's de facto Embassy in Washington has been given a similar task. Mr. Chien said he also hoped "Washington will continue to enhance its ties with Taipei while seeking to mend fences with Beijing."

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