Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Saturday urged Japan to abide by its pledge and properly handle the Taiwan question.

During a meeting in New York with his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura, on the sidelines of the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Yang expressed appreciation that Japan does not support Taiwan's attempt to "join" the UN, hoping that the Japanese side would adhere to its pledge and properly handle the Taiwan question.

Yang noted that September 29, 2007, Saturday, marked the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, and major headway has been made in bilateral ties in various areas.

He said that the two countries should redouble their efforts to maintain exchange of high-level visits and cooperation in fields like culture and sports so as to further improve and develop bilateral ties.

Komura, for his part, said the new Japanese government highly values its strategic relationship of mutual benefit with China, and hopes the two sides would maintain high-level exchanges so that more improvement can be achieved in Japan-China relations.

He said there has been no change in Japan's stance on the Taiwan question as stated in the Japan-China Joint Statement, and that Japan does not support Taiwan's "joining" the United Nations.

On Saturday, Yang also met with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and the two had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties, China-Europe relations, the Iranian nuclear issue, Darfur, and the situation in Myanmar.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2007)