BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/03/2010

China to loan US$1b to Belarus

MINSK: China has granted Belarus a billion-dollar loan, while the ex-Soviet country will support Beijing's position on Taiwan, President Alexander Lukashenko said Wednesday.

Lukashenko made the comments during a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.

"We will realize projects with an estimated cost of a billion dollars, paid by China," Lukashenko said on Belarus state television without providing details.

China would also grant Belarus 60 million yuan (US$8.8 million) in aid this year, state television reported, as well as "support Belarus when the UN Human Rights Council considers the report on the situation in our country."

Lukashenko said "Belarus's leadership thinks that attempts by third parties to present the issue of Taiwan's independence at the UN General Assembly to be absolutely unfounded and against UN principles."

China considers Taiwan, where the mainland's nationalists fled in 1949 after losing the civil war, to be a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Russia, which affirmed support for China's position on Taiwan Tuesday during Xi's visit to Moscow, and most of the world also view Taiwan as an integral part of China.

Taiwan, however, trades with and receives support from numerous countries, notably the United States.

China is Belarus' seventh biggest trade partner, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Source:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/1045761/1/.html


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