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)