Azernews.Az

By Seymur Aliyev, AzerNews Staff Writer

A Chinese parliamentary delegation has arrived in the Azerbaijani capital Baku to discuss prospects of inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The delegation, led by the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of National People's Congress Li Jaosin, held meetings at the Azerbaijani parliament. Jaosin met with deputy chairman of the Milli Majlis committee on foreign and inter-parliamentary relations Sevinj Fataliyeva and a group of other MPs.

Fataliyeva said that Azerbaijan is interested in developing its cooperation with China in the agricultural and tourism sectors as well as ICT.

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, Fataliyeva said that Azerbaijan appreciates Beijing's support for its territorial integrity and recognizes China's territorial integrity.

Jaosin said China is interested in comprehensive cooperation with Azerbaijan. He also stressed that bilateral trade has recently increased 700-fold.

In a meeting with the Chinese delegation, Azerbaijani First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov said Armenia is not only an aggressor, but also a country supporting terrorism at state level and today Azerbaijan is suffering from Armenian terrorism.

"We know that China is [also] suffering from separatism and terrorism," Asgarov said. "We condemn all manifestations of separatism and terrorism. Together we will fight it."

Jaosin replied that his country supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

"We too have suffered and are currently suffering from these problems," the head of the Chinese delegation said. "But in 1997, we returned Hong Kong to China and I wish you to restore your territorial integrity as well. However, today we are subjected to economic pressure. Economically, some European countries have an ambiguous attitude toward us."

Asgarov noted that China lost Hong Kong in 1948, and only almost 50 years thereafter, the country managed to regain it.

"But Azerbaijan cannot wait so long and soon we will regain Nagorno-Karabakh," Asgarov said.

Nagorno Karabakh is an Azerbaijani region where ethnic Armenians are running a self-proclaimed republic, whose independence is not recognized by any country in the world. The two countries fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, defying UN resolutions. OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.