 |
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Lauds China's Stance on Plane Collision
Lebanese National Assembly President Nabih Berri Saturday, April 14, expressed his appreciation for the Chinese government to defend sovereignty and national dignity in dealing with the plane collision incident with the United States.
China has acted "courageously and wisely" in negotiations with the United States over the mid-air collision incident involving a Chinese fighter jet and a US spy plane over the South China Sea on April 1, Berri said in an interview with Xinhua.
He condemned the U.S. hegemony over other countries, saying "we can see its hegemony in the Middle East, in Europe and in Japan." " But this time in China, it is totally different," he said.
"In the 21st century, China is the only country that could say 'no' to the United States. It is also the only country that could tell the US there is national dignity in the world," Berri said.
"What your government did is to safeguard national dignity, therefore, we support the just action," he told Xinhua.
A US military reconnaissance plane rammed into and caused the destruction of a Chinese military aircraft and the missing of its pilot on April 1 over the South China Sea.
The Chinese government held the U.S. fully responsible for the incident, but it released the 24 U.S. crew members of the plane out of humanitarian considerations after U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday said he was "very sorry to Chinese people and the family of the missing pilot and "very sorry" for the U.S. plane entering China's airspace and landing without a verbal clearance."
Starting from April 18, China and the US will continue negotiations over the incident, including the cause of the collision, the halt to US reconnaissance activities near the Chinese coastal areas, and the prevention of recurrence of such incidents.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Leaves for ChinaLebanese National Assembly President Nabih Berri left Beirut Saturday evening on a week-long official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese top legislator Li Peng.
This is Berri's first visit to China since he assumed the office in 1992.
Before his departure, Berri told Xinhua that he is confident his China trip will be "successful and fruitful."
He said he will hold talks with Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, on ways to intensify economic cooperations between the two countries.
"Our talks will also focus on the development of parliamentary relations," he said.
The speaker revealed that he will seek China's help to clear the 130,000 land mines left by Israel in southern Lebanon.
In This Section
|