In a meeting with a group of members of the US House of Representatives led by Curt Weldon, Jiang urged the two sides to widen their common ground and treat their differences with mutual respect and moderation, and seek common views while putting aside differences for the sake of boosting ties.

The healthy and steady growth of Sino-US relations was in the interests of the two peoples and conducive to peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large, he said.

He made positive remarks on the recent momentum in Sino-US relations, saying that new progress had been made in exchanges and cooperation in such areas as counter-terrorism and trade.

The world should be colorful and allow different development styles to co-exist, he said.

Saying Taiwan remained the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US relations, he hoped the United States would adhere to the one-China policy and the three Sino-US joint communiques.

Weldon said that the United States backed contact with China, and hoped to develop long-term friendly ties with China and become its good friend and partner.

He said that he had friends in both China's mainland and Taiwan who all admitted to being Chinese and there was only one China. "We support the one-China policy," he said.

The US congressmen are in Beijing at the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2002)