BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China hopes the five African nations that have no diplomatic relations with it will "take the right stand" and adhere to the one-China policy, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said at a press conference Sunday.

    "These five countries used to be friendly with China, too, and we never did them any harm. On the contrary, it was their governments that harmed the Chinese people's feelings," he told Chinese and foreign reporters after the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the largest gathering between Chinese and African leaders that closed Sunday afternoon.

    Until today, these countries are still isolating themselves from the absolute majority of the international society by maintaining the so-called "diplomatic ties" with the Chinese island province of Taiwan, he said.

    "I'd say it's an abasement of its own national status for a sovereign state to maintain the so-called 'diplomatic ties' with part, or a province, of another sovereign state."

    Needless to say, such an act violates the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and constitutes interference in China's internal affairs, he said, adding "We hope the governments of these countries will come back to the right stand by adhering to the one-China policy."

    China has established diplomatic ties with 169 countries and more than 130 international organizations including the United Nations, all of which uphold the one-China policy and acknowledge the fact that Taiwan is part of China.

    All the 48 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China are present at the two-day landmark gathering in Beijing. The remaining five countries were also invited to participate the summit as observers but none of them did.

    On the eve of the summit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said China would respect the decision by the five nations without diplomatic ties with China on whether or not they would send delegations.

    "However, China believes that they will finally accept the one-China principle, which has well been recognized by the international community", Liu told a briefing Friday.

Related:

    Chinese, Ethiopian and Egyptian FMs meet the press

    BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese, Ethiopian and Egyptian foreign ministers jointly held a press conference here Sunday afternoon, following the two-day Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Full story