BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — A reception was held here Thursday to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people and the first China-Arab Friendship Day.

    The reception was co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the China-Arab Friendship Association (CAFA).

    Tomur Dawamat, president of CAFA, said China has always advocated peaceful settlement of Palestinian issue through political negotiation on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and the “land for peace” principle.

    ”As a true friend of Palestine, China will continue to support the righteous cause of Palestinian people and play a constructive role in the Mideast peace process,” Tomur said.

    The United Nations designated Nov. 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people in a resolution adopted in 1977.

    Sino-Arab Friendship Conference which was held in Khartoum of Sudan in 2006 ended with a decision of designating China-Arab Friendship Day on Nov. 29.

    BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — The China Democratic League (CDL), one of China’s eight democratic parties, opened its 10th national congress here on Thursday.

    The delegates will hear and deliberate a report of the party’s 9th central committee, adopt the revised party constitution and elect its 10th central committee.

    Xi Jinping, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met the delegates of the congress on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

    Xi, also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, commended the league for its contribution to national development in the past five years in a congratulatory message delivered at the congress.

    At its 17th National Congress in October, the CPC stressed the need to improve cooperation with the democratic parties, support them and people without party affiliation to better advise on state affairs and supervise the work of the CPC, Xi said.

    ”The CDL should take full advantages of its intellectual resources to play a more important role in carrying out the country’s development strategies to promote education, personnel training, innovation, social harmony, as well as the country’s reunification,” Xi said.

    The China Democratic League was secretly established on March 19, 1941 in Chongqing, and was then named China Democratic Political League. In September 1944, the China Democratic Political League held a national congress in Chongqing and decided to rename itself the China Democratic League.

    With a membership of more than 181,000, the CDL is mainly made up of senior and leading intellectuals in the fields of culture, education, and science and technology.

    Jiang Shusheng, chairman of the CDL, delivered a report on behalf of the party’s 9th central committee.

    He said “the CDL will continues to consolidate the multi-party cooperation system, use the Outlook on Development in a scientific way to guide its work, and contribute more to the country’s development.”

Special report: Pakistani Situation¡¡

    BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday sent a message to Pervez Musharraf, congratulating him on his re-election as Pakistan’s president.

    In the message, Hu said that China and Pakistan have always respected, understood, trusted and supported each other on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence since the two countries established diplomatic ties more than five decades ago.

    He said that Pakistan is China’s good friend, neighbor, partner and brother all in one, noting that the two countries have forged all-weather friendship and all-round cooperation.

    Hu expressed China’s willingness to join hands with Pakistan to further promote the mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, elevate bilateral strategic partnership to a new high, and contribute to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

    Musharraf, who won the October elections, just took oath as civilian president for a five-year term. He resigned as army chief Wednesday and handed over the military command to succeeding army chief General Ashafaq Parvez Kayani.

Musharraf takes oath as civilian president of Pakistan

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf gestures during his inaugural address after being sworn in as the country’s civilian president at President House in Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. (Xinhua Photo)

    ISLAMABAD, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — Incumbent Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf took oath as a civilian president at a ceremony in Islamabad Thursday, one day after he gave up the post of army chief.

    Musharraf took the seat at the center of a hall along with Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar at the ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, or presidential house, which witnessed a gathering of hundreds of VIPs. Full story

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    BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — China on Thursday asked a German official who claimed China is one of the main countries conducting spying activities in Germany to “stop blemishing its image.”

    Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao made the remarks on Thursday afternoon at a regular press conference, saying China was strongly dissatisfied with certain German official’s “irresponsible criticism.”

    Liu said China had already lodged serious representations to Germany and demanded certain officials to “stop bad practices that blemished China’s image over and over again, stop undermining China-Germany relations and hurting the emotions of the two peoples.”

    Liu said since the beginning of this year, certain German officials had made up “groundless accusations” against the Chinese government and the Chinese in Germany, adding that it is not for the first or the second time that German officials have raised such groundless accusations.

    ”Such accusations also drew indignation from the Chinese people,” Liu added.

    BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — The Sino-U.S. relations were disturbed and impaired by the erroneous actions taken by the United Stations recently despite the general smooth development, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Thursday.

    China and the United States have maintained smooth communication on a series of major bilateral and international issues, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a routine news briefing.

    However, bilateral ties were disturbed and impaired by the erroneous actions of the U.S. side recently, for example, the meeting between U.S. leader and Dalai Lama, and his award of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, Liu said.

    China has clearly stated its stance on the issue, Liu added.

    On the Taiwan issue, Liu said China appreciated U.S. opposition to the push by the Taiwan authorities for a referendum on U.N. membership.

    ”But at the same time, we show great concern over the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,” he said.

    ”We demand the U.S. side fulfill its commitments in the three Joint Communiques between China and the United States on the Taiwan issue, not send wrong signals to Taiwan, and jointly maintain peace and stability across the Straits,” Liu added.

    BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday that China would take firm actions to protect environment, increase the efficiency of energy resources, develop the renewable resources and reduce greenhouse gas emission.

   China would like to work with the other nations of the world to deal with the global environmental issue,” he said during a meeting with the foreign participants of the annual meeting of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED).

    Wen said the theme of the meeting, innovation and environment-friendly society, was coincided with China’s development strategy.

    The Chinese government would give prominence to building a resource-conserving, environment-friendly society in its strategy of industrialization and modernization, he said.

    Wen said China had done a lot to fulfill this task and achieved good results.

    China’s energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) dropped 2.78 percent in the first half of this year, and the emissions of both sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand dropped, he added.

    He hoped the CCICED would play its role in promoting China’s sustainable development.