Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Prime
Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah met separately
with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Tuesday,
saying that Kuwait values its ties with China.
During the meetings, the emir and the prime minister said that
the peoples of the two countries enjoy a long history of friendly
exchanges, and the two countries are sincere friends. They said
that Kuwait spoke highly of China's important role in upholding
justice and promoting world peace in international affairs and
thanked China for its valuable support in a variety of areas.
They said that Kuwait and China, both developing countries, have
shared interests in a number of areas, stressing that Kuwait is
fully prepared to advance ties with China and expand bilateral
cooperation.
Kuwait will observe the one-China policy, they said. For his
part, Li said that Kuwait was the first Gulf Arab country to forge
diplomatic ties with China, "We cherish a sincere friendship
between the peoples of the two countries." He said that the two
countries have supported each other and bilateral ties have
developed steadily since the establishment of diplomatic ties
between the two countries in 1971. Bilateral cooperation has been
fruitful, he said.
The top Chinese diplomat said that China appreciates the Kuwaiti
government's adherence to the one-China policy and will continue to
support Kuwait's independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
He said that China is willing to promote mutual trust in the
political arena and expand economic and trade cooperation with
Kuwait, adding China is also ready to strengthen coordination in
international affairs, so as to contribute to safeguarding regional
and world peace.
Also on Tuesday, Li held talks with Kuwaiti Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, and
they agreed to push forward Sino-Kuwaiti ties and ties between
China and Gulf Cooperation Council members and Arab nations as a
whole.
Li arrived in Kuwait Citya Monday evening for an official visit
to Kuwait, and he will then travel to the Qatari capital of Doha
for the Asia Cooperation Dialogue conference, in addition to visits
to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)
