Washington Times, DC
March 18 2005

UPI hears

It is undoubtedly only coincidence, but Chinese President Hu Jintao
told visiting Azeri President Ilham Aliyev that China backs
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity within the framework of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In turn, Alieyev assured Hu that
Azerbaijan supports Beijing on the issue of settling the Taiwan
“problem.” Their meeting was followed by the signing of 13 documents,
ranging from the Chinese Foreign Ministry providing technical
assistance to agreements on cooperation between the two countries’
state television channels, national Olympic committees and justice
ministries. Other agreements dealt with communications and
information technologies, trade, economic, technical and cultural
collaboration, as well as on eliminating double taxation. Aliyev
walked away with a joint declaration supporting Azeri initiatives to
solve its intransigent Nargorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia and an
agreement covering military cooperation. And the Chinese? Well, they
did discuss bilateral trade, and the $300 million that China has
invested in Azerbaijan’s energy sector. Low-sulfur Azeri crude has
hit record prices in the world market; according to Azerbaijan’s
state oil company, SOCAR, Azeri light oil peaked earlier this week at
$54.81 per barrel.
From: Baghdasarian