- Title: CHINA: British Foreign Secretary calls for reduction of China-Taiwan tensions
- Date: 27th February 2008
- Summary: (BN08) SHANGHAI, CHINA (FEBRUARY 26, 2008) (REUTERS) SHANGHAI SKYLINE BOATS ON SHANGHAI'S YANGPU RIVER
- Embargoed: 13th March 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA8V7E0WPOLPL7IK80V0VTORICB
- Story Text: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, on a six-day visit to China, calls for dialogue to reduce tensions between China and Taiwan, comments on Sovereign wealth funds and the potential impact of Chinese industrialisation on global warming.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall on Tuesday (February 26) as part of a six-day China tour.
Officials briefed him on the urban planning and development of the city as well as Shanghai's plans for hosting the 2010 World Expo.
Miliband is visiting Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing during his visit to China.
Rights groups are pressing Miliband to highlight human rights, freedom of religion and the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region during his visit.
He has said on Saturday (February 23) he opposed a boycott of the Beijing Olympics but would discuss political and civil rights with Chinese officials.
Miliband said he wanted to discuss with Chinese officials "how they see political development and the place of individual political and civil rights within their system".
He is set to meet his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in the capital Beijing.
In Shanghai, Miliband spoke on a range of issues as he took questions from students at the China-Europe International Business School during his visit on Tuesday afternoon.
He said China and Taiwan should look to increased dialogue to reduce the tensions as the island looks to elect a new president in March.
"In respect of Taiwan, we have a one-China policy which was set about 30, 35 years ago. We don't think or support the use of the referendum as a way for Taiwan to join the UN in the name of Taiwan, as a membership in the name of Taiwan. And we think that actually, after the March elections in Taiwan, there needs to be an attempt on both sides to try to build some dialogue to try to reduce the amount of tension in the Taiwan Straits,"
Miliband said.
Next month, voters in Taiwan will choose between Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which traditionally takes a hard line on China, and Ma Ying-jeou, candidate of the more China-friendly Nationalist Party (KMT). They will also vote on a referendum on whether to seek U.N.
membership under the name "Taiwan", over opposition from Beijing, which has warned the island's government it is courting danger.
China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.
Miliband also said he welcomed the investment of sovereign wealth funds in the UK as long as they are commercial and non-political in nature.
Beijing launched its sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp, last September with assets of some 200 billion U.S. dollars.
"In respect of sovereign wealth funds, we think it's very important to abide by two simple principles. One, openness works, but secondly, you have to play by the rules. And so, the city of London has been a centre for global finance for a long time. It's been a centre by being open but also by having very clear rules. And so, to take the Chinese government as an example, they've made clear that they want their sovereign wealth fund to be governed by commercial criteria rather than by political interference. And that seems to me to be one of the rules that is needed for an effective and viable system of sovereign wealth investment and that's certainly what we'd like to promote," said Miliband.
Lawmakers in the United States had called for tough scrutiny of investment in the country by funds owned by foreign governments.
Concerns have been stoked by the emergence of sovereign wealth funds owned by countries such as China and Russia, which critics say invest with strategic or political motives that make them different from the pension or investment pools of countries such as Norway or Canada.
Miliband also urged China and India to look into more ways to reduce carbon emissions in the light of their rapid industrial development.
"The choice for developing countries, I think, needs to be between high-carbon development and low-carbon development. High-carbon development being repeating the mistakes of the industrialised countries but with a profound boomerang effect. Which is that if China and India industrialise in the high-carbon way that the currently industrialised countries have developed their economies, then climate change is going to come and hit them very, very, hard," he said.
China is the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States and is poised to overtake it.
Britain has proposed the world's first climate change law which requires Britain to cut climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's visit to China last month had a strong environmental focus as the two countries sought to cooperate to fight climate change.
Britain and British companies are already working with China on clean energy initiatives and agreements signed by China and Britain aim to increase that cooperation further. They are also collaborating on developing low carbon cities.
Miliband's China visit is a close follow-up of one by British Prime Minister Brown last month. Britain wants to strengthen its ties with China, eyeing its potential as an economic superpower and its rising global influence. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
