Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty views were exchanged when
Vice-Foreign Minister Qiao Zonghuai and officials with the
Department of Arms Control and Disarmament met with a US
delegation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said
yesterday.
Led by Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Avis Bohlen,
the US delegation reached Beijing on Sunday to explain Bush's
decision to pull out of the 1972 ABM Treaty.
During their meeting, Chinese officials reiterated China's stance
on the ABM treaty, emphasizing the importance of maintaining
international arms control, disarmament and world stability, Zhang
said.
Both sides agreed to continue dialogues on keeping strategic
stability, she added.
Also on Sunday, Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Guangya held a fourth
diplomatic consultation with his Russian counterpart, Georgy
Mamedov, in Moscow, exchanging in-depth opinions on topics
involving the international security situation, arms control and
disarmament issues, she said.
The two sides stressed global strategic balance and stability are
vital to international peace and safety, agreeing to conduct close
consultations on the above issues in the future, she added.
Commenting on reports that China and Israel conducted negotiations
on Sunday on the issue of Israel's cancellation of its sale of the
early-warning radar system to China, Zhang said China's stance is
consistent, and hopes the "relevant sides" take responsibility and
find an early, satisfactory solution to avoid undermining bilateral
relations.
"It is a basic principle of state-to-state relations that
agreements and understandings between them should be honoured,"
said Zhang.
Israel decided to cave in to US pressure and scrap its plan to sell
China a US$250 million early-warning radar system last year.
When answering an inquiry on the trade row between China and Japan,
Zhang said: "We hope both sides can exercise prudence and solve the
dispute calmly through friendly negotiations."
(China Daily December
19, 2001)