SERBIAN PRESIDENT SAYS CHINA SUPPORTS SERBIAN POLICY ON KOSOVO
BBC Monitoring International Reports - February 23, 2005

Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Beijing, 23 February: Serbian President Boris Tadic said today, following a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, that he had received support from China for Serbia's policy towards Kosovo-Metohija in the UN Security Council and other international institutions, noting that Kosovo-Metohija's independence was unacceptable because it would contribute to destabilization of the whole region.

The Chinese president believes that everything should be done for Kosovo-Metohija to get a status which would satisfy legitimate interests of all peoples living there, adding that neither Serbia nor Montenegro should be destabilized, because political stability was a precondition for economic development, Tadic said.

As the Serbian president's media representative, Jasmina Stojanov-Kovacevic, told FoNet, Tadic said he had discussed ways of improving good bilateral cooperation with the Chinese president, especially in the economic sphere. She added that Tadic had received assurances from the Chinese president that he would support investments by Chinese companies in the Serbian economy.

Serbia has a population of just under 10 million, and China has more than 1.3 billion people. Serbia had 1.5bn dollars invested in its economy two years ago and 800m dollars a year ago, whereas investments in China were 1bn dollars per week last year and this year the growth is registered even on a weekly basis, the Serbian president recalled.

"In 20 years, China will be a dominant economic force," Tadic said, adding that this was not true only of China, but of every nation taking care of itself, any nation with a clear strategy and development policy.

Serbia, he emphasized, wants to be in the EU and it must defend its interests wherever they are threatened. Means to achieve this should be assessed, and the economy is the most important tool.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said at the beginning of the meeting that Tadic's visit would surely improve bilateral relations.

"My officials confirmed to me that an agreement on joint Chinese-Serbian stances had been reached over the past two days," the Chinese president said.

Tadic invited the Chinese president and Chinese leadership to visit Serbia and he reiterated that Serbia-Montenegro supported a single China policy.

This morning, Tadic had a discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing about some aspects of foreign policy and problems facing the two countries.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Chinese foreign minister said it was a great honour for him to receive the Serbian president, especially during the first day of the spring, which had its symbolic meaning, adding that China had established an annual quota for presidential visits and that Serbian President Boris Tadic's visit was one of the eight planned for this year.

At the end of his official visit to China, Tadic will meet trade minister tomorrow. He will visit the Great Wall of China and attend a gathering in the Serbia-Montenegro Embassy in Beijing with a number of representatives from diaspora.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1211 gmt 23 Feb 05

Copyright 2005 Financial Times Information
All rights reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire 
Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC  

Posted for Fair Use only.