He made the remarks during the talks with his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr Abdullah Al-Kurbi.

Tang said Yemen is one of the earliest Arab countries which have established diplomatic ties with China.

Since diplomatic ties were set up 46 years ago, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have grown steadily and withstood the test of time, Tang said.

He said the two nations have made extensive and effective cooperation in the fields of politics, trade and economy, culture and health care, especially in recent years.

The two nations have always supported and cooperated with each other in international affairs, he said.

Tang said China greatly admires the efforts made by the Yemeni leaders and government for the development of the Sino-Yemeni ties and thanks Yemen for its adherence to the one-China policy and its support to China on the human right issue.

At the same time, China firmly supports Yemen's unification and its efforts in maintaining national independence and territorial integrity, Tang said.

Kurbi said Yemen and China enjoy traditional friendship, which is a solid base for developing bilateral relations, and Yemen thanks China for its political support and economic assistance to Yemen.

Yemen attaches great importance to its friendly cooperation with China and is willing to further the cooperation, he said.

Kurbi spoke highly of the bilateral effective cooperation in international affairs.

Kurbi appreciates China sending envoys to the Middle East, expressing his belief that China, as a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, would play a more important role in regional affairs.

Kurbi said the two countries have similar views on the anti-terrorism issue. Yemen believes that terrorism do harm the security, stability and economic development of various countries, but a clear definition should be made between terrorism and the just struggle of some nations for freedom, Kurbi added.

Tang expounded on China's principled stance on the anti-terrorism issue, stressing that China supports the combat against terrorism in all forms, and the United Nations and its Security Council should play the leading role in the international cooperation against terrorism.

China also opposes linking terrorism with some specific countries, nationalities or religions and making conflicts among different cultures, he said.

The two sides also exchanged views on the issues of the Mideast, Iraq and China's ties with Arab countries.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2002)