Photo: Xinhua

The one-China principle is the international community's consensus and an irreversible historic trend, China's top diplomat said after China and Kiribati officially restored diplomatic relations on Thursday.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kiribati's President Taneti Mamau signed a joint communique at the office of the Permanent Mission of China to the UN in New York on the establishment of diplomatic relations on Thursday local time. 

China and Kiribati agree to develop friendly relations on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, the communique said.  

"Not far from us is the UN headquarters where the legal rights of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the UN were restored 48 years ago. A UN resolution recognized the representative of the PRC government as the sole legal representative of China, said Wang. 

Since then, the one-China principle has gained broad consensus of the international community and is a key principle of international relations. The resuming of diplomatic relations again proves that the principle is an irreversible historic trend, Wang noted at a press briefing after the signing of the communique. 

Wang also hailed the resumption of ties as icing on the cake at an important moment — the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, which falls on Tuesday. 

China now has Kiribati as a good friend and partner and the people of Kiribati can carry out mutually beneficial cooperation with a country of 1.4 billion people and the two sides can share development opportunities, Wang said. 

Kiribati, located in the Central Pacific Ocean, announced its decision to cut "diplomatic ties" with the island of Taiwan on September 20, less than a week after the Solomon Islands cut its "diplomatic relations" with the island.

Although China and Kiribati are far apart and have different social systems and sizes, the two have the same mission to develop and improve people's livelihood, and uphold multilateralism and justice in international affairs, Wang said. 

China is willing to offer help to Kiribati's sustainable development based on the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit, Wang said.

Setbacks often help figure out the correct direction and rainstorms are a prelude to a rainbow, Wang said, expressing good wishes to friendship between the two countries at the turning point of bilateral relations. 

Kiribati originally established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1980, but the relationship was disrupted after it formed "diplomatic ties" with the island of Taiwan in 2003.