China Regrets Israeli ReversalAny agreement and understanding between states should be honoured. This is the basic principle of state-to-state relations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said in reaction to Israel's decision to cave in to US pressure and scrap its plan to sell China a US$250 million early-warning radar system.Zhu asserted yesterday that no other country has the right to interfere in China's bilateral relations with other countries. Zhu said China has been trying to be self-reliant in developing its national defence capacity, but it is also important for the nation to be able to purchase defence equipment. He said he hopes the United States can see the common interest of the two countries, strictly observe the principles in the three China-US joint communiques and properly handle the Taiwan question. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced that Israel was cancelling its sale of the Phalcon radar system to China. Zhu dismissed a report saying that Chinese officials assured visiting US Defence Secretary William Cohen that China would not use force to reunit Taiwan with the mainland. Turning to France, Zhu urged the French Government to be prudent in its handling of the Taiwan issue. Sino-French relations have suffered setbacks because of France's sale of weapons to Taiwan. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine was to arrive in Beijing today for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan. Zhu said the Foreign Ministry welcomes Russia's new diplomatic approach that focuses on strengthening relations with Asia, especially China. "The relationship between China and Russia, featuring non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-direction at the third country, not only tallies with the fundamental interest of both countries, but also benefits peace and stability of the world," he said. |
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