Kiribati president to make first visit

Kiribati President Taneti Mamau will kick off his first state visit to China on Saturday at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

The eight-day trip, which will be the first state visit hosted by China in the new year, will bring Mamau to Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.

It will be the first visit to China by a Kiribati president since the two countries formally resumed diplomatic ties in September after the central Pacific island nation severed its so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan.

"China stands ready to work with Kiribati at the opportunity of this visit to strengthen pragmatic cooperation and friendly exchanges with Kiribati on the basis of equality and mutual respect, to better benefit the people of both countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a news conference in Beijing.

According to Geng, Xi will hold talks with Mamau, and Premier Li Keqiang will meet with him. The leaders of the two countries will exchange in-depth views on bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of common concern.

"China and Kiribati have carried out comprehensive exchanges and cooperation in all areas since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations and a batch of early harvests have already been achieved," Geng said.

In response to media reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will raise issues concerning Xinjiang with Central Asian countries during his upcoming tour there, the spokesman said Washington's "old tricks are doomed to fail".

According to Geng, the US side had tried, but did not succeed, to sow discord between China and Central Asian countries during Pompeo's meeting with Central Asian foreign ministers in September.

"As close neighbors of Xinjiang, Central Asian countries know better than the US the real situation in Xinjiang and have a bigger say in it," Geng told reporters at the news conference.

Central Asian countries always understand and support China on issues concerning Xinjiang and speak positively of China's measures on anti-terrorism and de-radicalization, Geng said.

"We firmly believe that the governments and people in Central Asian countries are determined to jointly fight with China against the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism," he said.

Geng also said that China and Central Asian countries have achieved fruitful results in jointly building the Belt and Road, which plays a positive role in facilitating regional interconnectivity, developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods.

"If the US side really cares about development and people's well-being in the Central Asian region, it should take more concrete steps to achieve good results with sincerity and substantial financial contributions," he added.