On July 14, 2010, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi talked with visiting British Foreign Secretary William Hague and the two leaders jointly met journalists. Yang said that the Chinese side attaches importance to the exchanges and cooperation with the new British government and to maintain and further strengthen the sound momentum of China-Britain relations serves the fundamental interest of both countries and is a basic aspiration of their people. Both sides should examine the bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, insist on cooperation, properly handle differences and promote the development of bilateral relations. As permanent members of the UN Security Council and members of G20, the two countries should collaborate and exchange with each other to make contributions to coping with global and regional challenges.
Concerning the Afghan issue, Yang noted that Afghanistan is an important neighboring country of China. The Chinese side is committed to developing good-neighborly friendship with Afghanistan and pays attention to and actively participates in Afghanistan's reconstruction process. We expect to see an Afghanistan with peace and stability, independence and autonomy, development and progress and good-neighborly friendliness. China is willing to join hands with the international community including Britain to make active efforts to solve the Afghan issue at an early date.
As to Tibet-related issue, Yang said that Tibet has been an integral part of the Chinese territory since ancient times and it is a common consensus of the international community. With regard to the situation in Tibet, facts speak louder than words. According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, Tibet enjoys regional ethnic autonomy. Since the democratic reform 50 years ago, Tibet has achieved world-acclaimed progress in the fields of politics, economy and culture, comprehensive headways of social undertaking, great improvement of people's life and proper protection of cultural heritage. The Tibetan people enjoy full freedom of speech and various legal rights. He stressed that the Tibet-related issue is a pure internal affair of China and related with China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interest. All countries should respect China's sovereignty and shall not provide arena for the "Tibetan separatists".
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