China Urges US not Allow Stopovers by Chen Shui-bianChinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged the United States not to grant a transit visa for Chen Shui-bian to make a stopover in the United States en route to Latin America."We firmly oppose any official contacts and exchanges between the United States and Taiwan in any form and to Chen Shui-bian making stopovers in the United States," a ministry statement says. The statement says that China has made repeated solemn representations to the US side concerning this matter. China hopes that the US side can earnestly honor its one-China policy, strictly adhere to the three China-US Joint Communiques and the relevant commitments it has made, put an end to official exchanges and contacts with Taiwan and not allow Chen Shui-bian to make stopovers in the United States so as to prevent damages to China-US relations. On Wednesday, a US official said the US is "almost certain" to grant Chen a transit visa, but the US State Department on Friday declined to say whether a decision to grant Chen a transit visa has been made. Chen is planning a trip to Latin America in late May. |
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