Former Afghan King Meets Chinese Foreign Minister

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 17, 2002

Former Afghan King Meets Chinese Foreign Minister

Afghanistan's former king Mohammad Zahir Shah met with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Wednesday and praised China as a great friend of Afghanistan. Tang said China has always believed that problems in Afghanistan could only be resolved by Afghans themselves. He promised that China would continue to make contributions to promoting peace in Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan's former king Mohammad Zahir Shah met with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Wednesday and praised China as a great friend of Afghanistan.

Zahir Shah said although China is a big country, it has always treated Afghanistan as a brother. Emotionally recalling his contacts with former Chinese leaders, Zahir Shah said he would continue to work for the friendship of the two countries although he is old now.

Tang thanked Zahir Shah for his contributions to the promotion of friendship between the two countries and spoke highly of his efforts for Afghanistan's prosperity and development when he was the king. Tang expressed the hope that Zahir Shah would play an important role in promoting peace in Afghanistan.

The foreign minister said the formation of the Loya Jirga, which is expected to be inaugurated by Zahir Shah, is an important event in Afghanistan's peace process. China hopes that the Loya Jirga could turn out to be a success and all parties in Afghanistan would bear in mind national interests, abide by the Bonn agreement and work for national reconciliation, peace and stability.

China to make contributions to promoting peace

Tang said China has always believed that problems in Afghanistan could only be resolved by Afghans themselves. China respects the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and respects the right of Afghan people to choose their own way of development.

He promised that China would continue to make contributions to promoting peace in Afghanistan.

The Chinese foreign minister arrived in Kabul on Wednesday morning for a brief visit after a trip to Pakistan. Earlier in the day, he held talks with his Afghan counterpart Abdullah Abdullah and met with interim leader Hamid Karzai. He is expected to leave there Thursday morning for Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore.

China and Afghanistan

The People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Afghanistan on January 20, 1955. Since then the bilateral relations between the two countries have undergone a process of friendly development, descent and stagnation.

King Mohammad Zahir Shah and Queen of Afghanistan visited China in October 1964. The King met with Chairman Mao Zedong and held talks with Chairman Liu Shaoqi and Premier Zhou Enlai. Through those meetings and talks, positive achievements were made in further promoting mutual understanding as well as developing bilateral friendship and cooperation. >>details

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