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Powell Visit Boosts Sino-US Relations
US Secretary of State Colin Powell vowed this weekend to work towards a constructive Sino-US relationship during a visit to Beijing that gave hopes for more positive bilateral ties in the future.
The US official pledged during separate meetings with top Chinese leaders to conduct more dialogue and consultations on the economy, human rights, maritime safety and non-proliferation.
President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji, Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met Powell on Saturday.
The United States hopes to establish better relations with China, Powell was quoted as telling Jiang and Tang.
The promise of constructive co-operation received warm response from Chinese leaders, including Tang who said both countries and the world would benefit.
Tang also said that the two countries should promote their common interests together and learn to handle their differences more appropriately.
Among the tangible results of the visit, the two sides agreed to resume human rights dialogues which have been suspended since the 1999 NATO missile attack on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
Both sides also scheduled expert consultations on the issue of non-proliferation, an August meeting aimed at strengthening the consultation mechanism on military maritime safety, a September date for the 14th Sino-US Joint Economic Committee meeting and the promise of a meeting of the Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade within the year, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Powell is the highest-ranking official from the six-month-old Bush administration to visit China. His one-day visit on Saturday, which paved the way for US President George W. Bush's scheduled visit to China in October, came at a time when bilateral ties were improving after the low point resulting from the mid-air collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea in April.
The foreign ministry spokesman said Jiang is encouraged by the recent improvement in bilateral ties, saying that both peoples have benefited from interactions since 1972.
World peace demands that the two major world influences come together, Jiang said.
Powell was quoted as saying the US hopes to see China continue its rapid development.
Great expectations have been pinned on Bush's upcoming visit after he attends an informal leadership meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Shanghai.
A planned summit between Jiang and Bush in Shanghai and Bush's visit to China will provide an historic opportunity for the sustained and sound development of bilateral relations, Qian Qichen said during the meeting.
Powell and Chinese leaders also discussed the Taiwan question. Jiang said that regarding the island province, China is willing to discuss any possibility as long as the principles of peaceful reunification and "one country, two systems" are affirmed and respected.
"Nobody has a stronger wish for the peaceful solution of the Taiwan question than the Chinese Government," Jiang was quoted as saying.
The Chinese spokesman said that the United States was urged during the meetings to adhere to the three Sino-US joint communiques and handle the Taiwan question with caution.
Powell pledged during his visit that the Bush administration will continue to abide by its one-China policy and handle Taiwan according to the principles of the communiques.
The United States hopes for more positive progress in cross-Straits exchanges, the secretary of state added.
The US April decision to sell Taiwan advanced weapons and its permission to Taiwanese "president" Chen Shui-bian to stop by in Houston and New York during his Latin-American tour in May raised ire from Beijing.
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