Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Afghan counterpart Rangin
Dadfar Spanta agreed on Tuesday to further promote bilateral
cooperation and strengthen all-round cooperative ties.
Hailing the progress of bilateral relations, Yang said the two
countries had all along respected and supported each other in the
past 52 years.
Since the new Afghan government was set up, the two countries
had achieved remarkable progress in their cooperation in trade,
military, culture and other areas, Yang said. The two countries
also kept close coordination in international and regional
affairs.
He told Spanta China is ready to step up cooperation with
Afghanistan on a basis of equal footing and mutual trust.
Yang also appreciated the firm support Afghanistan offered on
the Taiwan issue.
In response, Spanta told Yang the Afghan government attaches
great importance to its relations with China, and was grateful to
the generous aid China offered in the past five years.
He reiterated the Afghan government's adherence to the one-China
policy. Taiwan is a province of China, he said, adding the Afghan
government opposes "Taiwan independence" in any form.
The two foreign ministers also conferred on cementing exchanges
and cooperation between the two foreign ministries.
Spanta arrived in Beijing on Aug. 17 for a six-day official
visit, his first-ever visit to China as foreign minister. State
Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with him on Monday.
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2007)
