Visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday in Beijing that the United States does not support "Taiwan Independence" and is against any unilateral action from each side to change the existing situation across the Taiwan Straits.

Cheney made the remarks during the talks with his Chinese counterpart Zeng Qinghong.

The United States realized the importance of the Taiwan issue to US-China relations, and the US policy on that question was not changed at all, Cheney said.

The US side sticks to the one-China policy based on the three joint communiques between the United States and China, the US senior official said.

Zeng introduced Chinese government's principled stance on the Taiwan issue.

The very fact of the Taiwan issue is that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, the election result in the island could not change that fact, Zeng said.

The Chinese government will continuously adhere to the policy of peaceful reunification and the principle of "one country, two systems".

China will spare no efforts to settle the Taiwan issue in a peaceful way, but will never tolerate the "Taiwan Independence".

Zeng urged the US side to honor its commitments, stop selling weapons to Taiwan and not send any "wrong signals" to the "Taiwan Independence" forces.

Significant progress in relations

The overall development of relations between the United States and China is sound and the two countries have made significant progress in their ties in recent years, said the visiting US Vice President.

In his talks with Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Cheney said the visit is very important.

The two countries have created the foundation for close cooperation in the anti-terrorism and non-proliferation sectors, with which the US government feels satisfied, Cheney said.

Zeng told Cheney that Shanghai was expecting Cheney's visit with a warm welcome.

Former US President Ronald Reagan addressed the Fudan University in Shanghai in the same season 20 years ago. Professors and students in the university were also expecting Cheney's upcoming visit, Zeng said.

Cheney said he was glad to visit China again and the US side also attaches importance to his visit.

President Bush was "pleased" with the relationship between US leaders and their Chinese counterparts such as Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two sides could do a lot of work jointly, Cheney said.

Cheney said he was expecting to discuss with Chinese side on some issues to further improve relationship between the two peoples.

China attaches importance to Cheney's visit and he believes the visit will fruit in positive results, Zeng said.

New round of consultation in June

Zeng and Cheney agreed here Tuesday that the anti-terrorism experts of the two nations will hold their fourth round of consultations in June.

In their talks, the two leaders also agreed to continue to strengthen high-level strategic dialogues and contacts at other levels, promote military contacts, and enhance exchanges and cooperation in the anti-terrorism, trade and law enforcement sectors.

Reasonable settlement of Sino-US trade friction

China takes a reasonable approach toward solving Sino-US trade friction, Chinese Vice President ZengQinghong said Tuesday.

Vice President Zeng acknowledged that the trade disputes between China and the United States are normal and China has taken steps such as dispatching a procurement group to the United States to increase China's imports since the end of last year.

"We will conscientiously carry out the rules of the World Trade Organization and our commitments," noted Zeng.

He also mentioned that Sino-US trade volume increased about 50 times in the past 25 years, and there is still great potential forfurther growth.

On Sino-US ties, Zeng said both China and the United States aregreat nations, and their common interests overwhelm their differences.

China and the United States share wide-ranging common interestsand a cooperative basis no matter in safeguarding the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world and promoting regional and global economic growth, but also in dealing with terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crimes and diseases, said Zeng.

The Chinese side is pleased to see the progress in the growth of Sino-US ties in recent years, said Vice President Zeng, and it is willing to work with the US side to further advance bilateral constructive and cooperative relationship.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with Cheney, according to diplomatic sources.

Beijing is the first leg of Cheney's tour in China and he is also scheduled to visit Shanghai after his stay in Beijing.