Chinese, Philippine Vice-Presidents Confer in Beijing

China is willing to develop long- term, stable and good-neighborly relations of cooperation with the Philippines and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao said in Beijing March 23.

This constitutes an important component of China's independent foreign policy of peace and is also a consistent policy, Hu said in talks with Philippine Vice-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Hu said that China and the Philippines are developing countries in Asia, and in the circumstances of the accelerating process of economic globalization and regional cooperation, the promotion of consultation and cooperation as well as common development conforms to the interests of the two countries and their peoples, and is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development. He praised Arroyo's contributions to promoting Sino-Philippine relations, saying that through joint efforts, the two countries' friendly cooperation in a variety of areas has been progressing remarkably since their establishment of diplomatic relations 25 years ago.

Mentioning Chinese President Jiang Zemin's 1996 visit to the Philippines, Hu said that during the visit the leaders of the two countries reached a consensus on establishing good-neighborly and cooperative relations of mutual trust geared toward the 21st century, thus defining the direction for the growth of bilateral relation in the long-run.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to the Philippines not long ago opened up a new chapter in bilateral relations, he said.

On the Taiwan issue, Hu stressed that the Chinese Government has consistently worked for a peaceful resolution of the issue; however, peaceful reunification should be accomplished under the prerequisite of the one China principle.

The Chinese people will never allow anyone abandoning the one China principle and going for any form of "independence" for Taiwan, he said.

Arroyo said that, because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, she was happy to have this opportunity to visit China at this time.

The two countries' cooperation in various fields has been developing smoothly, she said.

She said that the Philippine government and people value relations with China, and hope to further expand cooperation with it in the new millennium.

She also reiterated the Philippine government's one China policy, which is the political basis for the establishment of their diplomatic relations, saying that such a stand remains unchanged.

As a friendly neighbor of China, the Philippines offers congratulations to China on its sustained economic growth, and hopes to expand economic and trade cooperation with China, thus contributing to common prosperity in the region, she said. During the talks, Arroyo and Hu also briefed each other on the domestic situations in their respective countries, and exchanged views on issues of common concern.

Prior to the talks, Hu presided over a welcoming ceremony in honor of Arroyo.

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