Thai foreign minister backs China on Tibet, Olympics

Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon PattamaBeijing  - Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on Tuesday offered his support for China's position on Tibet and its holding of the 2008 Olympics, state media said.

Noppadon told Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that Tibet was China's "internal affair" and that Thailand opposed linking it to the Beijing Olympics, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The Thai minister said he was confident that the Beijing Games would be a "complete success" and reaffirmed Thailand's adherence to the "one China" policy, entailing no diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.

Yang and Noppadon discussed a range of other bilateral, regional and international issues, the agency said.

It quoted Yang as saying China wanted to expand its "strategic cooperation" with Thailand.

"The two countries share mutual benefits in economic exchanges and cooperate well in international and regional affairs," Yang said. (dpa)

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