China expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition"
Tuesday to the International Religious Freedom Report 2002, which
was released by the State Department of the United States on
Monday.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the part of the report related
to China disregards reality, unreasonably censures China's
religious policy and even gives high praise to the Falun Gong
cult.
"This has trampled the basic rule of international relations and is
also a rude interference in China's internal affairs," said Foreign
Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue in a written press statement.
The Chinese Government protects the Chinese citizen's freedom of
religious worship according to law and all peoples in China enjoy
the freedom of religion, said Zhang.
Meanwhile, Chinese law does not allow any organization or people to
conduct illegal criminal activities under the camouflage of
religion, she said.
The Chinese Government's ban on the Falun Gong cult and its
crackdown on terrorism in so-called East Turkistan aim to protect
Chinese people's basic religious freedom and human rights,
according to Zhang.
She urged the United States to stop interfering in China's internal
affairs on the issue of religion and avoid the negative influence
it has on Sino-US relations.
Separately, at the Foreign Ministry's regular press briefing
Tuesday, questions about China's reaction to US President George W.
Bush's speech on Monday were raised. In his speech Bush accused
Iraq of developing weapons of mass destruction -- which it denies
-- and warned that force may be used against the Mideast
country.
Regarding the speech, Zhang said China has "maintained close
contact and consultation on the Iraqi issue" with other United
Nations (UN) Security Council members.
Meanwhile, Zhang refused to comment on US calls for military action
against Iraq, saying that it was too early to comment on any draft
resolution.
China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council,
has consistently called for a political and peaceful rather than a
military resolution to the Iraq issue, insisting that decisions
about Iraq should be made within the UN.
Zhang said that the most urgent task now is to allow an immediate
return of United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq.
Baghdad must cooperate fully with the UN and implement all relevant
Security Council resolutions, Zhang said.
At
the same time, Zhang pointed out, the international community must
be fair and objective in assessing Iraq's compliance with the
resolutions.
Also Tuesday, Zhang confirmed that three unidentified people,
suspected to be from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK), entered a school run by the German Embassy in Beijing.
Zhang said the incident is now being dealt with.
Last month 15 people from the DPRK were allowed to leave China for
Seoul via Singapore after scaling walls into the school compound,
where they stayed for a week.
Zhang said it is necessary to take some security measures around
the German school to guarantee the safety of the teachers and
pupils.
More than 100 DPRK people bolted into foreign missions in China
this year, reports have said.
China has clearly expressed, on many occasions, that they are not
refugees but illegal intruders.
(China
Daily October 9, 2002)