State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with Secretary-General of the
Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Greg Urwin in Beijing Wednesday,
pledging to improve trade ties between China and the Pacific island
nations.
"China will provide the forum with assistance to the best of its
ability in such areas as regional security and environmental
protection," said Tang.
"China highly values the cooperation with the PIF and engages in
further promoting trade exchanges between the two sides," Tang
added.
The PIF, established in 1971 as an inter-government
organization, groups Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated
States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue,
Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon
Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Urwin said the PIF attaches great importance to establishing
long-term cooperation with China and hopes China could play
constructive role in the region.
The PIF will continue to stick to the one-China policy and
properly handle Taiwan-related issues, Urwin said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2006)
