US President George W. Bush met with visiting Chinese Vice
Premier Wu Yi at the White House on Wednesday and reiterated that
the United States sticks to the one-China policy.
Bush told Wu that there is no change in the position he stated
about the Taiwan issue when he met with Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabaoin in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 9 last
year.
"We oppose any unilateral decision by either China or Taiwan to
change the status quo, and the comments and actions made by
the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make
decisions unilaterally to change the status quo, which we
oppose," Bush said at a joint appearance with Wen at that time.
In his meeting with Vice Premier Wu, President Bush also said he
was pleased with the positive outcome of the 15th session of the
China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), a bilateral
consultation mechanism set up in 1983 to deal with trade and
commerce issues between the two countries.
Bush said the US side fully recognizes the importance of
economic and trade cooperation to the relationship between the two
countries, and hopes to further expand trade with China and bring
more benefits to the two peoples through continuous development of
bilateral economic and trade relations.
Wu, who co-chaired the one-day JCCT meeting on Wednesday with US
Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans and Trade Representative Robert
Zoellick, said the Chinese side was pleased with the progress made
in Sino-US relations in recent years.
She urged the US side to exercise prudence in handling the
Taiwan issue and abide by its commitments in the three joint
communiques to ensure steady progress in the Sino-US
relationship.
Speaking of bilateral trade, Wu said China, the biggest
developing country in the world, and the United States, the biggest
developed country, have a great potential in economic and trade
cooperation.
Both sides should always treat their relationship from a
strategic and long-term perspective and in the spirit of mutual
respect and seeking common ground while reserving difference, she
said.
The two sides should also address each other's concerns and
broaden common interests through more exchanges and cooperation, Wu
added.
The Chinese vice premier expressed the hope that the United
States will recognize China's market economy status at an early
date and lift its export restrictions on high-tech products to
facilitate development of economic and trade relations between the
two countries.
The success of the just-ended JCCT consultation is the result of
common efforts, she said. It is another testimony that China and
the United States could settle their economic and trade issues
properly and further advance their cooperation if both sides show
mutual understanding and compromises, Wu added.
(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2004)