Japanese leaders should stop worshipping war criminals and
hurting the feelings of people in China and other nations having
suffered from Japanese invasions during World War II, Foreign
Minister Li
Zhaoxing said Tuesday at a press conference held on the
sideline of the Fourth
Plenary Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC),
China's top legislature.
"The crucial problem challenging China-Japan relations now is
that certain Japanese leaders still insist on paying homage to WWII
Class-A war criminals," Li said, adding that the action cannot be
accepted by the Chinese people and wartime victims of many other
nations.
"This is a issue of very serious nature," he stressed.
Talking about the fourth round of East China Sea consultation
between Chinese and Japanese diplomatic officials, which concluded
in Beijing today, Li said, "It was pragmatic and constructive."
"The two sides have agreed to launch the next round of
consultation as early as possible," he added.
China-US relations
President Hu Jintao
is going to visit the US soon, Li told the press.
"We are ready to work with the US side to strengthen mutual
understanding, expand common ground, deepen mutual trust, promote
cooperation, and properly settle our differences with a
view?to promoting the sound development of bilateral
relations," he said.
Li stressed that the Taiwan issue is the "biggest" factor
affecting China-US relations, expressing the hope that the US side
sticks to the one-China policy, observes the three China-US joint
communiqués, has a clear understanding of the dangerous nature of
"Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and activities, and takes
concrete measures to oppose such attempts.
He called on the US side not to send?wrong signals to
"Taiwan independence" secessionists and work together with China to
safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and the overall
interests in China-US relations.
The US should not politicize its trade relations with China, Li
said, adding that the two countries should solve trade problems
under the framework of the World Trade Organization.
The trade between the two countries reached US$211.6 billion in
2005, up 24.8 percent year-on-year, he said.
Referring to the trade imbalance between the two sides, he noted
that China does not pursue surplus in its trade with the US, and it
is "ready to take positive measures" to solve the problem.
However, Li pointed out that the restriction on export items to
China was to be partially blamed for US deficit in its trade with
China.
"Besides its Boeing planes, the US only wants to sell its
soybean, cotton and orange to China. For those more valuable items,
it doesn't like to sell because they are regarded as 'high-tech'
products or civilian-military goods," he said.
Li said China's export to the US can help curb inflation and
create 4-8 million jobs in the country.
Also, consumers in the US have benefited from the import of
Chinese products, which are cheap and also in good quality, he
added.
Li said China has become a fastest growing market for the US
export, noting that China is now the largest importer of soybean
and cotton from the US.
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Talking about the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR)
for which the US side has been deeply concerned, Li said China has
taken measures in legislative, judicial, law-enforcement and
education fields to strengthen IPR protection.
He said in 2005 alone, China's industrial and commercial
authorities dealt with more than 39,000 trademark infringement
cases, and Chinese courts heard more than 3,500 IPR-related
cases.
China-Russia relations
At the invitation of President Hu Jintao, Russian President
Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China later this month,
according to Li.
"The visit is expected to boost the all-round development of the
China-Russia Strategic Partnership of Cooperation, and facilitate
world peace, stability and development," he said.
During Putin's visit, the two presidents will jointly attend the
opening ceremony of the "Year of Russia" in China and a
China-Russia high-level business forum, he said, adding that the
two sides will also issue political documents and sign a series of
mutual cooperative treaties.
Iranian nuclear issue
The Iranian nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomatic
channels and negotiation, Li said.
"We support the maintenance of nuclear non-proliferation
mechanism, oppose nuclear weapon proliferation, and are in favor of
resolving the issue as early as possible through diplomacy and
negotiation," he said.
There is still room for resolving the issue under the framework
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The international
community should not give up efforts toward this goal, he said.
Li hoped negotiations on the issue would yield positive results
and called on all parties concerned to remain calm, restrained,
patient and flexible to seek a diplomatic solution.
China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with
all nations concerned for properly resolving the issue, he said,
adding that Zhang Yan, director of the Foreign Ministry's
Department of Arms Control and Disarmament, is now in Vienna
working on it.
Six-party talks
"China has maintained communication and coordination with all
parties involved for the early resumption of the six-party
talks," Li said.
The six-party talks aiming to find a peaceful solution to the
Korean Peninsular nuclear issue involve China, the US, Russia,
Japan, North and South Korea. The talks have so far been held for
five rounds in Beijing.
Calling the joint statement issued last year following the
fourth-round talks a "hard-won result that should be cherished," Li
said China believes that as long as all parties have sincerity,
demonstrate flexibility and keep the overall security situation of
Northeast Asia in mind, the negotiation will "achieve positive
progress gradually."
Ties with African countries
China and African countries will build a politically supportive,
economically win-win and culturally connected strategic
partnership, Li said.
Recently Li visited some African countries including Liberia,
Nigeria and Cape Verde and found China-Africa relations had a solid
foundation. "In Liberia, I saw the peacekeeping troops dispatched
by China had harmonious relations with local citizens and played a
positive role in maintaining the local peace and stability," he
said.
Ties with Arab countries
The Sino-Arabic relations are developing smoothly, Li said.
Since the Sino-Arabic Cooperation Forum was founded, the two
sides have carried out close cooperation, he said.
"We are willing to make efforts with all Arab nations to deepen
cooperation of the forum in different fields and promote the
development of Sino-Arabic relations in the new period," he
said.
Peaceful means and political negotiation are the correct road to
the settlement of the Middle East issue. It is China's hope that
Palestine and Israel could continue to observe the relevant UN
resolutions and the principle of "land for peace," and resolve
their differences through dialogue, Li said.
"China firmly supports the Middle East peace process and has
been mediating among the parties concerned," he said.
"We will continue to cooperate with the parties concerned and
play a constructive role for an early realization of peace and
stability in the region," he added.
Vatican should not intervene?in China's internal
affairs
China hopes the Vatican will not intervene in its internal
affairs in any form, Li said in response to a question that the
Vatican appointed a Hong Kong person as the cardinal-bishop
recently.
"We hope the Vatican will not maintain a so-called 'diplomatic
relations' with a province or a region of China," he said.
Taiwan authorities take a dangerous step
Li said the Taiwan authorities have taken a "dangerous step"
toward "Taiwan independence" by ceasing the function of the
"National Unification Council" and the application of its
guidelines.
"This is a serious provocation to the one-China principle
observed by the international community and to the peace and
stability across the Taiwan Straits," he said.
The secessionist activities will sure "end up in shameful
failure," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2006)
