CHINESE AMBASSADOR VISITS VUKOVAR ( Editorial: --> 2385 )

( Editorial: --> 2385 ) VUKOVAR, Nov 20 (Hina) - The Chinese Ambassador to Croatia, Li Guobang, visited Vukovar on Thursday. Li held talks with UNTAES representatives, Vukovar's mayor Vladimir Stengl and Vojislav Stanimirovic, a Croatian Parliament member who is also the president of the Serb Independent Democratic Party (SDSS) and deputy chairman of the Croatian National Trust Establishment Committee. During talks with Mayor Stengl, Li stressed that since the beginning of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, China had supported the sovereignty and integrity of all states of the former country and the respect of the rights of national minorities. He expressed hope that the Danube region would be reconstructed quickly, and that the establishment of trust among people in the region would continue. Considering the suffering and destruction Vukovar had experienced, trust could not be reinstated as quickly, but the process had begun, Stengl said. All conditions had been created for the UNTAES mandate to end on 15 January, after which there would be no need for any form of executive mandate of the international community in the Danubian area, Stengl added. (hina) lm jn 201541 MET nov 97