Meeting his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: “It is hoped
that the two sides will firstly support each other in safeguarding their own sovereignty, security and
development interests.” He also said the two nations should “abide by the basic norm of international
relations of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs” and “refrain from participating in activities against
each other on international occasions” and “enhance mutual understanding through bilateral channels on
differences in historical and ethnic issues”. Cavusoglu said he conveyed Turkey’s “views, expectations and
sensitivities” over the Uyghurs to Wang Yi. Wang Yi and Cavusoglu focused more on economic cooperation,
with Wang Yi calling for speeding up work on currency swaps that would make it easier to settle trade deals
in their respective currencies. He also called on the two sides to further synergise their development strategies,
advance landmark projects such as nuclear power and expand cooperation in areas such as new energy, 5G,
cloud computing and big data. Wang Yi also raised China’s concern over the Aukus alliance, saying it raises
the risk of nuclear proliferation. The two Foreign Ministers also discussed the crisis in Kazakhstan.
(Comment: China is hosting Foreign Ministers from Gulf states, Iran, and Turkey this week, to discuss freetrade agreements and ways to resolve the Iranian nuclear controversy.)
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