Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 4 2009
China supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty:
ambassador
Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 4 /Trend News, U.Sadikhova/
China supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, urges the parties to follow the
relevant resolutions from the UN Security Council and is for a
peaceful solution to the conflict with the support of the
international community, said Zhang Yannian, the Chinese Ambassador to
Azerbaijan.
"China supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict […],as Azerbaijan supports China’s
territorial integrity and sovereignty, does not hold any official
meetings with Taiwan and recognizes China’s common and legitimate
government," the ambassador said at the Center for Strategic Studies
in the presence of the Azerbaijani President on Sept. 4.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding
districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in
1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the
U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.
The relations between China and Azerbaijan are developing rapidly, the
ambassador said. The countries support each other in important issues,
and China provides assistance to Azerbaijan for rapid entry into the
WTO, he added.
"There is growing business cooperation between our countries and over
the past year the trade turnover between the two countries totaled
$800 million," the diplomat said. "Furthermore, there are 15 large
Chinese enterprises in Azerbaijan, with a total investment of 500
million dollars," he said.
According to the ambassador, currently there is no problem for
mutually beneficial cooperation.