Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Tuesday
that China is convinced that the Russian government will
appropriately handle its investigation into Yukos, Russia's largest
oil producer, and that it is a strictly internal affair. The
investigation would not produce any impact on the China-Russia oil
pipeline project.
Responding to questions about Russia's Yukos company and the
proposed Sino-Russian oil pipeline project, Zhang said at a regular
news briefing in Beijing that the project has been confirmed by the
two governments many times and will be a major component in
economic and energy cooperation between the two countries.
The project was a leading cooperative project in energy, economy
and technology, which has been openly promised by both governments
on numerous occasions, Zhang acknowledged.
At the eighth regular consultation of Chinese and Russian
premiers, Zhang noted, the two sides agreed to abide by the
principles set forth by the two heads of state in their joint
statement on May 27 this year and continue to implement the
China-Russia oil pipeline project.
She said China noticed that Russian officials had expressed
Russia's willingness to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy
field and to fulfill their commitment to building the project.
"China is willing to actively cooperate with the Russian side to
implement as soon as possible the consensus and agreements that the
two sides have reached on the project," Zhang said.
On Oct. 25, Yukos Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky was
arrested on charges of fraud, tax evasion and five other offenses.
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office later froze trading in the
company's shares.
Zhang also told the press that Vice Foreign Minister Dai
Bingguo, one of the top diplomats involved in efforts to defuse the
nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, will visit the Republic of
Korea (ROK) and Japan this month.
Dai will be in ROK from November 9-12 and Japan from November
12-16 on a trip that comes just one week after a visit to the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) by senior Chinese
leader Wu Bangguo.
Dai's visit is regarded as China's latest move to push for the
continuance of the six-party talks on this issue.
"China will continue to work with other parties to push for the
next round of six-party talks,'' Zhang said.
Responding to reports that the United States, Japan, the
Republic of Korea and the European Union are considering suspension
of light water projects in the DPRK, Zhang said all related parties
should take more positive actions to create a sound atmosphere for
the second round talks.
On the topic of Pakistani President Musharraf's visit to China,
Zhang said both sides will strengthen cooperation in nontraditional
security areas in the future, including terrorism, national
splittism and religious extremism.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's state visit to China was
of vital importance for further strengthening the Sino-Pakistan
traditional friendship and mutual cooperation, Zhang said.
She described President Musharraf's visit as one "inheriting the
past and forging ahead into the future."
Since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 52 years ago,
Zhang noted, China and Pakistan had always treated each with utmost
sincerity and established comprehensive friendly cooperation with
mutual trust and support.
The eight documents signed during President Musharraf's visit
would strongly improve Sino-Pakistan ties, the spokeswoman
said.
President Musharraf arrived in Beijing Monday afternoon for a
three-day state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Hu
Jintao.
Zhang also reiterated China's opposition to any official contact
between Taiwan and the United States when asked to comment on a
handshake between Taiwan "leader'' Chen Shui-bian and US Secretary
of State Colin Powell when the two men met in Panama recently.
Turning to reports that there is increasing appeal in Japan to
reduce its official development assistance to China, Zhang said
China is still a developing country though it has made progress in
high technology, as demonstrated by last month's successful launch
of the Shenzhou V spacecraft.
Also at yesterday's briefing, the spokeswoman announced John
Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State of the
United Kingdom will pay an official visit to China from Nov. 10 to
14 at the invitation of Chinese Vice-Premier Huang Ju.
(Sources including China Daily and Xinhua News Agency, November
5, 2003)