SHANGHAI, Oct 19: Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Thursday deplored the mounting civilian casualties in US attacks on Afghanistan and called for a more effective role for the United Nations in “anti-terrorism efforts”..

At a joint news conference with US President George Bush, Jiang said China was not happy with civilian deaths caused by the US bombing raids in Afghanistan.

Bush was in Shanghai for a summit of Asian and Pacific nations.

China was deeply upset by the US bombing of its embassy in Belgrade during the NATO effort against Yugoslavia in 1999.

“We hope that anti-terrorism efforts can have clearly defined targets,” he said. “And efforts should hit accurately, and also avoid innocent casualties. And what is more, the role of the United Nations should be brought into full play.”

The US president said the two nations stood side by side in the war against terrorism.

“We have a common understanding of the magnitude of the threat posed by international terrorism,” Bush said at the news conference.

President Bush welcomed China’s “firm commitment” to the war on terrorism and publicly downplayed sources of friction with Bejing after his first meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

“There’s a firm commitment by this (Chinese) government to cooperate in intelligence matters and to help interdict financing of terrorist organisations,” Bush told a joint news conference with Jiang.

China has been sharing intelligence and has sealed its border with Afghanistan amid US-led strikes on the country’s Taliban rulers for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, blamed for September 11 terror strikes on the United States, said a US official, declining to be identified.

But Beijing has not explicitly endorsed the US campaign, and Jiang called for restraint even as he emphasized he and Bush were committed to “working together with the rest of the international community to combat terrorism.”

“We hope that anti-terrorism efforts can have clearly defined targets, and efforts should hit accurately, and also avoid innocent casualties,” said Jiang, who also called for the United Nations to “be brought into full play.”

The anonymous US official said China was not “layering” conditions for its support, that US action had roots in the UN charter’s self-defense clause and that the world body would play a central role in rebuilding Afghanistan.

The agreement to fight terrorism appeared to have no spillover benefits for traditional sources of friction between Washington and Beijing, including human rights, arms proliferation and the volatile question of Taiwan.

Jiang said the last issue, if “properly handled” according to bilateral accords, would not blot a shared “bright future.” Bush said he had “explained” his views on Taiwan, offering no details.

Bush aides later said he had strongly restated his commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act, under which Washington conducts yearly sales of arms to the island — a frequent point of contention with Beijing.

Taiwan, which China regards as a rebel province, announced earlier on Friday that it was boycotting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in protest at Beijing’s “barbaric” refusal to let it send its envoy of choice.

The US leader, in an apparent reference to China’s crackdown on Uighur separatists in northwestern Xinjiang province, warned that the war on terrorism “must never be an excuse to persecute minorities.”—AFP