Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, on behalf of the Chinese
government, attended a ceremony hosted Tuesday evening in Beijing
by Michael William Marine, US minister counselor to China, to
commemorate the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in
New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.. Li reiterated the
stance of the Chinese government and said China is ready to work
with the US to strengthen dialogues and cooperation in
anti-terrorism issues.
Li
expressed sympathy for the relatives of those who died or were
injured during the attacks as well as the US people as a whole.
He
said that, just as Chinese President
Jiang Zemin had said over the phone to US President George W.
Bush, the attacks were a challenge to the sincere aspirations for
peace of the peoples of the whole world.
He
said that the Chinese government opposes any form of terrorism,
strongly condemning the horrifying incident.
He
noted that China and the US have conducted fruitful consultations
and cooperation in the field of anti-terrorism since the incident,
establishing a medium- and long-term mechanism for the
anti-terrorism task.
He
added that China is ready to work with the US to strengthen
dialogues and cooperation in this regard.
Li
said that upheavals in the international situation show that China
and the US have broad common interests, although they still have
differences.
Developing constructive and cooperative relations between the two
countries conforms to the interest of the two peoples, and benefits
peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, he
added.
( December 12, 2001)