Albania supports one-China policy

TIRANA, Nov. 27 – Albanian Foreign Minister Besnik Mustafaj held a visit to China in an effort to strengthen bilateral ties and also to soften the recent friction over granting asylum to five Chinese who were former prisoners of the Guantanamo. Albania has always made it clear that it supports the one-China policy and that it will keep this stance unchanged in the future, something which was repeated by Mustafaj during his meetings on Saturday. Mustafaj paid an official visit to China from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing, with whom Mustafaj met. “Albania and China enjoy traditional friendship, and the Albanian government cherishes this relationship,” said Mustafaj. The two ministers agreed to increase bilateral commercial ties, especially efforts to increase Albanian exports to China, according to a statement from the Albanian Foreign Ministry.
The two countries agreed to extend cooperation in the field of mining and agriculture. A new level of cooperation would be noticed in the fields of education, culture, justice, customs and energy, said the statement. They will prepare a series of agreements and cooperation programs to be signed in the near future. Political dialogue was another sphere which would increase between the two countries at the levels of foreign ministries, parliaments and prime ministers’ offices. The two countries’ diplomacies would increase cooperation in the context of multilateral institutions, especially that of the Untied Nations.
As expected, Mustafaj paid special attention to discussing the status process for Kosova. China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. “The minister expressed his belief Šthat China will keep the proper stand to the solution needed for Kosova and that is independence,” said the statement. Mustafaj suggested to his Chinese counterpart that senior Kosova officials be invited to Beijing in order to listen to their comments on the developments in Kosova and their preparations to build governing institutions there in a ‘democratic, multiethnic state open to cooperation with neighbors, including Serbia.’ “All this on behalf of peace and stability in the region,” said the statement.
Though Albania and China are far apart in distance and sharply different in size, this has not prevented the two countries from developing and maintaining a fruitful and healthy relationship. Mustafaj expressed his appreciation for China’s role in world affairs, saying that China’s active foreign policy is successful and irreplaceable in safeguarding regional and world peace. He also praised the fast-growing economic relations between the two countries, inviting more Chinese companies to invest in Albania. Mustafaj expressed his belief that Albania should be China’s main partner in the Balkans, due to their old links, which the minister said could initiate a new stage of economic cooperation between the two countries, urging more Chinese investments in such Albanian strategic sectors like energy and mineral industry.