On February 27, 2003, President Jiang Zemin met with
visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Jiang first
spoke positively of the results of Ivanov’s visit to
China. He hailed Ivanov's talks with Vice President Hu
Jintao and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on the same day as
successful. He said China and Russia had formed a strategic
partnership of cooperation and signed the Good-Neighborly
Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, which he described as
the two magic weapons of Sino-Russian ties. The bilateral
relationship between China and Russia would surely develop,
provided the two nations took a tight hold of these two
magic weapons. During Russian President Vladimir Putin's
China visit in December last year, he recalled, both sides
had summed up the valuable experience on the all-round
growth of Sino-Russian relationship and formulated a
strategic plan for future development. He expressed the
belief that China’s new central leadership would work
with Russian leaders to carry on the past and work
unswervingly to enhance and deepen bilateral relations. It
was a necessity for the both sides to increase bilateral
cooperation in various fields, in the face of the volatile
international situation. Jiang also expressed the hope that
China and Russia implement the cooperative agreements
effectively and in a down-to-earth way, and take steps to
expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation, especially
in such fields as energy.
On the Iraqi issue,
President Jiang reiterated that Iraq should cooperate with
the United Nations weapons inspectors actively and
earnestly. The Iraqi issue should be resolved politically,
in which the United Nations should play an essential role.
On the nuclear issue in the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, Jiang said, China held that peace and stability on
the Korean Peninsula should be safeguarded and the peninsula
should be nuclear-free. China also held that the problem
should be resolved peacefully through dialogue, and direct
dialogue between the DPRK and the United States would be the
effective means. Jiang also hoped that China and Russia
should strengthen consultation and cooperation on
international issues.
Russian Foreign Minister
Ivanov gave a very positive and high appraisal of bilateral
cooperation, saying that the Russia-China strategic
partnership of coordination had scaled new heights over
recent years, and the good-neighborly treaty of cooperation
signed between both heads of state had laid a solid
foundation for the long-term growth of bilateral relations.
The Russian side highly valued President Jiang's personal
contribution to the development of Russia-China ties. At
present, the foreign minister noted, the two nations should
work harder still to expand relations in all spheres, and
should exert themselves to substantiate their ties. Under
the current circumstances, it was in the interests of both
sides and conducive to international stability for the two
countries to maintain close ties and work for a new
international order and a multipolarized world. Ivanov said
that his substantivel talks with Vice President Hu and
meeting with Foreign Minister Tang were fruitful.
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