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 | Wednesday, April 12, 2000, updated at 17:38(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Roundup: Hopes High for Jiang's Five States TripPresident Jiang Zemin left Beijing Wednesday morning to kick off his state visits to Israel, Palestine,Turkey, Greece and South Africa.He will go to Egypt for a summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Leaders from all the nations due to receive Jiang look forward to his trip, expecting him to bring tidings for better relations. Here are comments from the nations he is due to visit. "We have developed excellent relations with China, although our diplomatic relations are quite short with only eight years," said Ora Namir, Israel's ambassador to China. She described Jiang's visit to Israel as a "very, very important event" for Israel and a milestone in bilateral relations. The ambassador said this visit is not only political but also for "humanity and traditional friendship." She said during Jiang's visit, Israel and China will consider two agreements: one on trade and economic co-operation and one on education exchanges. Exchanges in technology, agriculture, aviation and telecommunications have been fruitful already, the ambassador said. Trade volume between the two countries was US$600 million last year, 20 times more than eight years ago, Namir said. Turning to China's role in the Middle East peace process, she said China's good relations with both Israel and Arab nations are "extremely important" for the regional peace process. "I am sure that Arab diplomats in China have the closest and most co-operative relations," said Moustapha Saphariny, the Palestinian ambassador to China. "China has long been supporting Palestinian people's just cause and provided lots of aid for Palestine's construction," the ambassador said. Saphariny also said Palestinians appreciate China's role in Middle East and international affairs. "It is because China always holds just and reasonable positions," said Saphariny. Egypt, as the first Arab African country to recognize the People's Republic of China, has good relations, said Mohamed Noman Galal, ambassador of Egypt to China. "Bilateral relations have entered a new stage since the signing of the joint communique establishing a strategic, co-operative relationship between the two countries in 1999," said the ambassador. Egypt and China, both old civilizations, will focus on future development rather than dwelling on their previous prosperity, he added. "Peace and development are the two main concepts for our life in the future.'' The two countries have worked together on technology, labour contracting among other fields. In 1998, Sino-Egyptian trade volume was US$606.53 million, of which China's exports to Egypt were US$574.84 million and imports from Egypt US$31.69 million. Egypt appreciates China's role in the Middle East peace process, Galal said, adding that Egypt believes China will continue to advance the process. Greece and China have similar views on many world issues, said Toannis Theophanopoulos, Greece's ambassador to China. He noted that Greece, concerned about the security of the Balkans and the whole world, believes in following international laws. "Both Greece and China agree that bombing was not necessary to resolving the disputes in Kosovo," he added. Greece, a member of NATO, opposed the organization's bombing of Yugoslavia last year. And it faces the mounting problem of helping refugees from neighbouring Yugoslavia. "The turbulent situation in the Balkans shows that European peace is not yet guaranteed," he said. Jiang's visit shows China's desire to help maintain peace in the region, he stressed. Sino-Turkish relations have gained momentum since the 1980s, when exchanges between the two countries increased. For one thing, each side set up an entrepreneurs' council. The trade volume of the two countries is US$701.8 million, including US$659.1 million in exports to Turkey. Turkey wants to promote exports to China, attract Chinese capital, help build China's infrastructure and work together on projects in other nations. Jiang will make the first-ever visit by a Chinese president to South Africa. Chinese observers regard Jiang's visit as another move to strengthen ties with African nations for the meeting of Chinese and African ministers this October. Relationship between China and South Africa have proceeded well since diplomatic relations were established in the spring of 1998. South Africa is China's largest trading partner in Africa. The two-way trade volume was US$1.558 billion in 1998. The two governments have signed agreements on investment protection, trade, technological co-operation and avoiding double taxation.
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