The third round of
China-Japan Strategic Dialogue scheduled in Beijing for October
14 to 17 will cover a wide range of topics concerning all areas of
ties, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kong Quan at Thursday's
regular press conference in the capital.
Kong said China and Japan are important neighbors whose
bilateral ties have developed rapidly in recent years, with
exchanges and cooperation in various fields expanding.
There are enormous problems in Sino-Japanese relations, said
Kong, which require earnest treatment with a serious attitude from
both sides.
He said the government hoped the Japanese will work actively
with them to implement consensus reached between leaders of the two
countries.
China and Japan held previous talks in Beijing in May and in
Tokyo in June.
Handling of abandoned wartime chemical
weapons
Kong said Japanese Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office Takeshi
Erikawa, arrived to discuss the abandoned chemical weapon issue on
Tuesday. He returned to Beijing on Thursday after visiting Dunhua
City of northeast China's Jilin
Province, where chemical weapons had been buried.
Kong said Vice Foreign Minister Wu
Dawei will meet with Erikawa on Friday and officials will hold
working talks with him.
According to Kong, abandoned chemical weapons have been found in
about 40 sites in 15 provinces of China, with the largest
proportion in Dunhua.
"These chemical weapons have posed a great threat to the safety
of the Chinese people and the ecological environment," said Kong.
"China has urged the Japanese side to provide the exact sites where
wartime chemical weapons are buried in China but has not yet
received any response."
Kong said China hopes the Japanese side will accelerate its
process of dealing with the issue and eliminate a problem that has
lingered for sixty years.
The government said Japan abandoned at least 2 million tons of
chemical weapons in China after WWII and 2,000 people have been
injured by them.
China and Japan joined the UN Chemical Weapons Convention in
1997. Two years later, the two sides signed a memorandum in which
Japan agreed to provide all the necessary funds, equipment and
personnel for the retrieval and destruction of all its abandoned
chemical weapons in China by 2007, inline with commitments in the
UN convention.
Mainland on Taiwan attending APEC
The government firmly opposed the attendance of the leader of
the Taiwan authorities' legislative body at the informal the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), said Kong.
APEC has clear stipulations on Chinese Taipei's representatives,
Kong said, namely that it can only send its minister in charge of
APEC-related economic affairs to attend.
To handle related issues in strict accordance with such
prescripts and norms constitutes the political basis for Taiwan's
participation in APEC activities and the essential precondition for
the smooth progress of APEC activities, said Kong, noting that
"China resolutely opposes any participant violating the
above-mentioned prescripts and norms."
Kong said Chen Shui-bian harbors ulterior motives in this move
and parties concerned should handle it properly while fully
realizing the severity of this issue.
"China hopes that South Korea will play its due role as APEC
host." Kong said.
US's allowance of Lee Teng-hui's tour
Kong said the government also strongly opposed former Taiwan
leader Lee Teng-hui's visit to the US and has lodged solemn
representations to the US.?
Kong urged the US to adhere to the "one-China" policy, observe
the three Sino-US
joint communiqués and demanded that the US not send any signals
suggesting it supports secessionist forces.
"The separatist activities of Lee Teng-hui and those like him go
against the aspirations of the whole Chinese people, including
Taiwan compatriots, and is condemned and doomed to failure," Kong
said.
The spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office
also voiced indignation over US approval of Lee's visit today.
"We oppose Lee's visit in the US in whatever form or name," said
Li Weiyi. "We oppose him using the opportunity of the visit in
continuing to spread destructive views on cross-Straits relations
advocating the independence of Taiwan."
Sino-Iran ties
China and Iran will discuss further development of bilateral
ties during Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki's visit,
said Kong.
Mottaki arrived on Thursday morning on a two-day visit as guest
of Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing.
Kong said that Chinese leaders will meet Mottaki and the two
foreign ministers will hold talks. They will focus on furthering
bilateral relations under the new circumstances and exchange views
on international and regional issues of common concern.
He said the Iranian nuclear issue will be another topic and that
China holds a supportive attitude toward the negotiations between
Iran and three European countries.
China hopes all parties will properly settle the issue within
the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency through
peaceful negotiations, especially about finding a long-term
solution, said Kong.
He said China hopes Iran, the EU and other parties concerned
will break the deadlock with patience, flexibility and concrete and
pragmatic steps, and resume dialogue, consultations and
negotiations on this issue as early as possible.
G20 meeting to be open for ideas
The upcoming G20 meeting to be held in Beijing and Xianghe, Hebei
Province in north China, is open for ideas and China hopes it
will facilitate the participating countries to promote common
development, said Kong.
The resolution of such a meeting will reflect the needs and
interests of different countries since it takes into consideration
the concerns of developed countries as well as those of the
developing countries, he said.
Kong said that the meeting is a good platform for involved
countries to make their positions known to each other, adding that
China hoped the participants could freely air their views on global
economic situation.
Kong said China is ready to elaborate its opinions on relevant
issues and is happy to be a good listener.
On the issue of RMB exchange rate, he stressed, China has been
keeping dialogues with the United States all the time in the hope
of the two sides giving better understanding to each other.
Kong said the issue concerning the RMB exchange rate is
basically a domestic one.
China will deepen its reform in the financial sector, in
particular, the reform of the formation mechanism of exchange rates
through gradual steps in its own manner and at its own speed, he
said.
Equatorial Guinean President to visit China
Kong also announced that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
of Equatorial Guinea will visit China from October 19 to 24 at the
invitation of President Hu
Jintao.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily October 14,
2005)