SANAA, 10 September 2004 — Yemen proposed closer security ties with China and backed its position on Taiwan as Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing arrived in Sanaa on the second leg of a regional tour, the official SABA news agency reported yesterday.
Li and his Yemeni counterpart, Abu Bakr Al-Kurbi, discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, the Darfur crisis in Sudan and the fight against terrorism, SABA reported.
Kurbi proposed a partnership in the fight against terrorism, adding that Yemen wanted to sign security agreements with China. Yemen has been cracking down on Al-Qaeda sympathizers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Kurbi also said Taiwan was “an integral part of the People’s Republic of China”.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan even though the two sides have been governed separately since the defeated nationalists fled to the island in 1949.
For his part, Li said China hoped to develop oil trade with Yemen, which produces 500,000 barrels a day. Bilateral trade between the two countries currently amounts to $800 million, Li added.
Oman’s official ONA news agency said Li, who flew to Yemen from Saudi Arabia, is due to start a two-day visit to Muscat today.
A Chinese official said in Cairo earlier this week that Li would arrive in the Egyptian capital on Sept. 13 for talks with Egyptian officials and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
On Wednesday, Iraqi interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the first Iraqi official to visit Yemen since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, held talks with President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the state SABA news agency reported.
Zebari told reporters the talks covered ways which Arab countries could help Iraq conduct elections early next year, but did not deal with the possible dispatch of Yemeni troops to Iraq. Zebari, who arrived here early Wednesday, “briefed Saleh on developments in Iraq and ... the Iraqi government’s quest for assistance in rebuilding Iraq and preserving its security,” SABA said.
The Yemeni president in turn underscored Sanaa’s “support for Iraq and for any efforts conducive to ending the (US-led) occupation and achieving security and stability”, it said.
