China Hopes Bush Extends Good TiesChina believes the US policy towards China previously followed by the two major political parties will continue after George W. Bush assumes the presidency.Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan made the comment Friday during a meeting with former US Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger. Tang said Sino-US relations are currently at an important juncture. "Developing relations with China is a common theme between Republicans and Democrats in the US. Administrations of each party all adhere to the one China policy," Tang was quoted as saying by a foreign ministry spokesman. Tang said he highly values the progress achieved by the two states in the development of bilateral relations in the past decade. During the Republican administration of President Nixon, China and the US opened the gate to developing relations and made a historic breakthrough in bilateral relations, Tang said. In addition, he said that during the Democrat administration of President Carter, China and the US established diplomatic relations and in the later administrations of presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, Sino-US relations have witnessed further development. "We believe that after Bush's election as president, the US bipartisan China policy will continue," Tang said. The foreign minister said it is important to maintain stability and develop Sino-US relations. We are looking forward to working with the new US Government to promote the development in a sustained, sound and stable manner based on the three China-US Joint Communiques, Tang said. Stressing that the Taiwan question has always been the most important and sensitive question in Sino-US relations, he said the US Government should honor previous commitments. It should support the peaceful reunification of China, which is of vital importance to overall Sino-US relations and for stability in the Taiwan Straits. Eagleberger said that the US shoulders, as does China, responsibility for improving and developing bilateral relations. Eagleberger said the US-China relationship is now the key and most important of all its bilateral relations. He said that he would make every effort to improve and develop Sino-US relations.(China Daily) |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |