Chinese Vice-President Holds Talks With Indonesian Counterpart

Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao Arrives in Jakarta

Visiting Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao held talks with Indonesian Vice-President Megawati Soekarnoputri Monday and exchanged views on bilateral relations and a wide range of international and regional issues of common interest.

Hu said China and Indonesia had long been friendly neighbors with Indonesia being one of the very first countries in the world to recognize the new-born People's Republic of China. Toward the end of last year, President Abdurrahman Wahid completed a fruitful and successful state visit to China, reiterating with his Chinese counterpart President Jiang Zemin their joint commitment to the establishment and development of a long-term and stable relationship of good-neighborliness, mutual trust and all-round cooperation. They set the tone for the future direction of the bilateral relationship.

Upon this basis, Hu said, China and Indonesia signed a joint statement on the future directions of bilateral cooperation last May and also set up a joint committee between the two governments, signifying that the bilateral relationship was back on the right track.

"The Chinese government has long been emphasizing the importance of nurturing friendly and mutually beneficial relations with Indonesia. In order to implement that joint statement on the future directions of bilateral cooperation, China was committed to join effort with Indonesia to further promote the friendly bilateral cooperation towards a healthy and stable future," he said.

On the Taiwan issue, Hu maintained that Taiwan issue fell well into China's domestic jurisdiction and was part of China's domestic politics. As usual China would spare no effort in promoting its peaceful reunification process with Taiwan.

"A peaceful resolution to the Taiwan issue is in the common interest of all the countries in the region. In this regard, we need to seek support from friendly nations. We highly appreciate that the Indonesian government has long been standing by the 'One China' policy," Hu added.

Megawati reiterated that the Indonesian government would always stick to its "One China" policy. As a sincere friend, Indonesia would uphold this policy and would not have any official contact with Taiwan, she said.

Megawati said Indonesia and China had enjoyed good relations in recent years. Ever since the new government was established, it valued the mutual-supporting and mutual-beneficial cooperation with China. She sang high praise for the Chinese government for its painstaking efforts to promote a friendly bilateral cooperation.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views and shared common ground on the following issues: maintaining multiple-tiered exchanges, deepening cooperation in trade and economies, mutually supporting each other in keeping intact national sovereignty and territorial integrity, enhancing coordination and cooperation in international and regional issues.

Both sides agreed that since the two countries were among the big developing nations of the region, they shared the same or similar standpoints on some of the international issues.

The two sides had experienced fruitful coordination on East Timor, human rights and East Asia cooperation. They expressed their common willingness to continue coordinating and cooperating within the framework of the United Nations and other multilateral venues to maintain peace, stability in the region and to fight for the righteous rights of the developing nations.

After the meeting, Hu Jintao and Megawati witnessed the signing ceremony of the Treaty between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Indonesia on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

In the evening, Megawati will hold a hearty banquet for Hu Jintao.