Jiang, Chavez Hail Bilateral TiesChinese President Jiang Zemin and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez hailed in Caracas Monday the growth of bilateral relations and vowed to bring the existing friendly ties to a new height.Speaking at a banquet hosted in Jiang's honor, Chavez said that Jiang's current visit helped to deepen the firm ties between the two countries and contributed to the establishment of a just and reasonable new international order. Both China and Latin America are striving for the democratization of international relations, realizing that the existing unjust economic, financial and trade systems should be changed through common efforts, he said, adding that this would help safeguard their own legitimate interests and rights for development on an equal footing. He noted that bilateral relations have "broad prospects," since the ever increasing political, social and economic contacts between the two countries "have laid a solid foundation for the growth of our future ties." He reiterated Venezuela's one-China policy and said it is Venezuela's hope and firm belief that China's cause of reunification will begin to make big strides at the dawn of the new century on the road to success. President Jiang said China has always valued its relations of friendly cooperation with Venezuela and that China is ready to work with Venezuela for the establishment of long-term stable and all-round relations in the new century, so as to make their due contributions to world peace, development and the progress of mankind. Jiang expressed satisfaction with the remarkable progress made in cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in various fields, and said this cooperation has great potentials for further growth. He also expressed his appreciation for Venezuela's efforts to adhere to its independent and multilateral foreign policy and defend the principles of self-determination and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, and for its contribution to the integration of Latin America and to world peace and development. He said he believed that Venezuela could overcome difficulties and forge ahead to make still greater achievements in the future. Venezuela is the last leg of Jiang's tour of six Latin America countries, which has taken him to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba and Brazil. |
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