THE presidents of China and Cyprus held talks and signed co-operation agreements in the areas of culture, health and trade yesterday in Beijing in an effort to increase economic but also diplomatic relations between the two countries, with Cyprus seeking a strong ally within the Security Council and China looking to gain political leverage within the EU.
Before yesterday’s signing of agreements and talks in the Great Hall of the People, the two presidents stood to the trumpeting of the Chinese and Cypriot national anthems and then walked side by side along red carpets, flanked by four orderly rows of over 100 Chinese military guards, all of whom were the same height at close to two metres and standing in disciplined immobility.
The first agreement provided for cultural exchanges between the two countries for 2006-2010, the second for co-operation in the areas of health and medicine, and the third for promoting further trade relations and investments.
President Tassos Papadopoulos views a powerful diplomatic friend in China, which wields diplomatic muscle as one of the Security Council’s five permanent members with right of veto, while Chinese President Hu Jintao is looking for political support within the European Union.
The five-day visit to China coincides with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cyprus.
In a Wednesday ceremony in Beijing marking the diplomatic anniversary, Papadopoulos expressed his “heartfelt gratitude to the government of the People’s Republic of China for its staunch support to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as to the efforts for a just and viable solution of the Cyprus question.”
Papadopoulos said that Cyprus takes a position of “full adherence to the ‘One-China’ principle,” adding that Cyprus “recognises the People’s Republic of China as the only lawful representative of all the Chinese people”.
He then claimed that certain countries “in consort with Turkey are promoting the idea that the part of Cyprus which since 1974 is occupied by Turkish troops should be turned into a ‘Taiwan type’ entity in the Western world.”
Vice chairwoman of the National People’s Congress of China Wu Yun Qi Mu Ge said that the Chinese side “speaks highly of the Cypriot government’s firm adherence to the ‘One China’ policy” as well as its opposition to Taiwan’s independence.
“The Chinese people will never forget that in 1971, Cyprus voted in China’s favour for the restoration of its lawful rights in the United Nations, which we will always cherish.”
Towards the end of his Wednesday speech, Papadopoulos said he wanted to “pay tribute to the former leaders” of China and Cyprus, specifically naming the founders of the two republics, Archbishop Makarios and Chairman Mao.
