China's top legislator, Wu Bangguo, is in Manila for the fourth General Assembly of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace. Wu Bangguo is the current chairman of the AAPP, which opens its general assembly on Monday. On Sunday, the Chinese parliament chief met Philippine House Speaker Jose de Venecia. Their talks focused on the Taiwan issue, anti-terrorism, and the regional economy.

During his meeting with de Venecia, the NPC chairman thanked the Philippines for its support of the one-China policy on Taiwan.

De Venecia said the Philippine parliament backs the one-China principle, and considers Taiwan an inseparable part of China.

The House Speaker also proposed linking Southeast Asia's five-party anti-terrorism alliance, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand forged an anti-terrorism pact last year. The six-member SCO comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The two leaders also addressed the issue about the South China Sea. Wu Bangguo said China is willing to promptly implement the code of conduct that China signed with ASEAN last November, for joint development of the sea region.

(CCTV.com September 1, 2003)