Chinese FM calls for pushing China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership to higher level

Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that China is willing to work with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to advance the China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

The UAE is a country in the Middle East with distinctive importance and influence. The development strategies of China and the UAE are in alignment, the philosophies of governance are similar, and the economies are highly complementary, making the two countries natural friends and partners, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, when meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In the more than four decades since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and the UAE have respected and supported each other, and the bilateral ties have withstood the test of the changing international landscape and maintained a sound and steady development, Wang noted.

China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the UAE, implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, stay committed to the original aspirations of diplomatic ties, deepen strategic mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and carry forward the traditional friendship, so as to jointly push for a higher level of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, he added.

Noting the second China-Arab States Summit is scheduled to be held in China next year, Wang said he expects to welcome the participation of Arab leaders, and expressed the hope that, with the support by the UAE and other Arab nations, the summit will yield positive outcomes and elevate China-Arab states relations to a new level.

Sheikh Abdullah said that over the more than four decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations, UAE-China relations rapidly developed based on mutual respect and trust, witnessing fruitful cooperation across various fields and deepening people-to-people friendship, thus becoming a model for state-to-state relations.

He stressed that the UAE firmly adheres to the one-China principle, firmly supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity and in achieving national reunification, and resolutely opposes foreign interference in China's internal affairs.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues such as the situation in the Middle East.

Chinese FM calls for pushing China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership to higher level

A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday slammed Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te over his latest remarks on cross-Strait relations, accusing him of promoting secessionism and escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in a press release that Lai's speech marking his second anniversary in office was "filled with lies and deception, hostility and confrontation."

Chen accused Lai of stubbornly adhering to a secessionist stance in pursuit of "Taiwan independence," while exaggerating the so-called threats from the mainland and intensifying confrontation across the Strait.

Lai played an old trick of advocating the secessionist agenda on one hand and, on the other, calling insincerely for dialogue and exchanges with the mainland, attempting to mislead people in Taiwan and deceive the international community, he said.

Chen said that these common tricks have been seen through by more and more Taiwanese people. Their deceptive and provocative actions will be met with firm opposition from compatriots on both sides and the international community, and are doomed to fail.

Reaffirming the mainland's position on the Taiwan question, Chen said Taiwan has never been a country, is not one now, and will never become one in the future.

He described the Taiwan question as a historical issue left over from a Chinese civil war in the 1940s.

No election result in Taiwan could alter the fact that Taiwan is part of China or sever the historical and legal bonds linking the two sides of the Strait, according to Chen.

The mainland would never allow any person or force to pursue secessionist activities under any pretext, he added.

Calling secessionists "the chief culprit" who undermines cross-Strait peace, Chen said the mainland would continue to uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, unite broadly with Taiwan compatriots, combat secessionist activities, and safeguard peace and stability across the Strait.

Central government spokesperson refutes Lai Ching-te's latest remarks, warns against secessionist moves