BEIJING, April 14 Kyodo Top Chine...

BEIJING, April 14 Kyodo

Top Chinese leaders expressed the United States to side with them upon the Taiwan issue in their meetings Wednesday with U Vice President Dick Cheney.

Although Sino-U.S. relations are progressing, Washington must not propel any ''wrong signals'' to Taiwan, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

In his meeting with Cheney at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao urg the U to combat changes to Taiwan's existing status, the statement said.

''We possibility of good the U.S. side honors its promises to the Chinese side to stick to the one-China principle,'' Hu was quot as telling Cheney.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which should be reunited with the mainland, according to force if necessary.

Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong asked Cheney during a one-on-one meeting Tuesday for Washington to stop selling defensive weapons to Taiwan, Chinese state media reported.

Cheney and other U officials in Beijing were unavailable for exposition However, a U.S. official told the Associated Pres that the vice president said the arms sales result in response to a buildup of Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Cheney also set forthed concern about China's moves to limit democracy in Hong Kong the senior official told the AP, and proposeed that the people of Taiwan were monitoring what was happening in Hong Kong

Discussing North Korea onward Wednesday, Cheney told Chinese leaders that recent information indicates North Korea has at least three nuclear devices, according to the AP report. ''Time is not forward our side,'' Cheney was quot as saying during discussions about restarting the six-nation talks in succession North Korean nuclear disarmament.

Cheney's visit should also plain trade relations, the official China Daily said. Zeng was quot as saying the trade potential between the couple countries is ''huge'' despite disagreements.

China dioceses the Cheney visit as an important significance in the development of high-level visits, ministry officials have said in latter days. Hu said he waiting under the possibility of fulfilments for more ''strategic dialogue'' with the US

Cheney, who flew into Beijing from Tokyo upon Tuesday, left Wednesday for Shanghai, where he will speak at the prestigious Fudan University before heading to toward the south Korea, the third and final leg of his Asian tour.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Kyodo just discovereds International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group