Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with Premier and Foreign Minister of Niue Dalton Tagelagi on the sideline of the Third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Xiamen City, east China's Fujian Province.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, expressed his appreciation for Tagelagi's emphasis on developing relations with China and his positive contributions to the relations between China and Niue, as well as the broader Pacific Island countries.
China upholds the principle that all countries, big or small, are equal, which is the tradition, belief and principle of Chinese diplomacy, as well as a distinction from other major countries, said Wang, adding this is something that China has always taken pride in.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the development of bilateral ties have made remarkable progresses, with the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership based on mutual respect and common development in 2018, setting a model for equality and common development among countries of different sizes, Wang said.
Wang stressed that China always upholds the "four full respects" polity toward Pacific Island countries proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, namely China fully respects the sovereignty and independence of Pacific Island countries, fully respects their will, fully respects their cultural traditions and fully respects their effort to seek strength through unity.
China's assistance to Pacific Island countries comes with no political strings attached, involves no imposition and makes no empty promises, he said.
Wang said that China's developing friendly and cooperative relations with Niue is open and transparent, and does not target any third party.
China applauds Niue's adherence to the one-China principle and will, as always, support Niue in pursuing a development path that suits its own national conditions, he said.
Wang stressed that China is willing to work together with Niue to continuously advance bilateral relations so as to deliver benefits to the people of Niue.
Wang pointed out that the two sides should strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, green development and climate change, and that China welcomes more Niuean youth to visit and receive training sessions in China and encourages more Chinese people to travel to Niue.
China deeply empathizes with the climate change challenges faced by small island countries, and is willing to work with Niue to uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and jointly build a fair and rational global climate governance system for win-win results.
For his part, Tagelagi expressed his heartfelt gratitude to China for its selfless support in promoting Niue's independent development and improving people's livelihoods, stressing that China's support is crucial to island countries.
Niue highly values its relations with China and the close friendship between the two peoples, stays committed to the one-China principle, and supports the three major global initiatives and the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation proposed by China, he said.
Tagelagi said that Niue is eager to seize the development opportunities brought by China and looks forward to further strengthening cooperation with China in areas such as infrastructure, marine conservation, people-to-people exchanges, tourism and telecommunications, so as to advance their respective modernization processes.
Niue is willing to promote development in the South Pacific region and safeguard a fair and rules-based global trading system in the spirit of mutual respect, he stressed.
Chinese FM meets premier and foreign minister of Niue
Chinese FM meets premier and foreign minister of Niue
