The Foreign
Ministry said yesterday China is to insist on its position and
foreign policy to Japan no matter which party or person rules
it.
The Chinese government always adheres to developing long-term
friendly cooperative relations with Japan based on the principle of
"taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future," the
ministry's spokesperson Qin Gang told a regular press
conference.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will leave office when
his term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party
expires next September.
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It is believed that Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni
Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A WWII war criminals along with war
dead, is the main reason for the deterioration of China-Japan
ties.
The bilateral relationship, "which is of great importance,
currently is confronted with difficulties," Qin said, mentioning
that it is not China that should shoulder the responsibility for
the stalemate.
Qin emphasized that China hopes to enhance friendly
communication and cooperation with Japan in such fields as
politics, economy, culture and non-governmental sectors.
The China-Japan relationship is cultivated through endless
efforts by leaders of both countries and should be cherished, he
said, adding that double efforts should also be made to cherish the
base of bilateral relations to seek for greater achievements in
various fields and ensure that bilateral relations be constantly
improved and developed.
Turning to relations with Central American countries, Qin said
China is ready to conduct normal exchanges with them on the basis
of one-China policy.
He said it is quite uncommon that some Central American nations
have not forged diplomatic ties with China.
He said China proposes to develop friendly relations of
cooperation with all nations in the world on the basis of the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, as it is not only in line with
interests of China and these nations, but also conducive to the
global and regional stability and common development.
Regarding the sanctions imposed by Washington against six
Chinese companies accused of supplying military technology to Iran,
Qin said they are "not beneficial to Sino-US cooperation in the
non-proliferation field."
"We are strongly dissatisfied with, and firmly oppose, the
sanctions," he said.
Washington announced the measures on Tuesday, accusing the
Chinese firms of violating the 2000 Iran Non-proliferation Act. The
US legislation aims to block international support for what it
suspects are Iranian nuclear and chemical weapon programs.
Under the sanctions, the US will not provide export licenses to
the Chinese companies for doing business in the US, and will ban US
government purchases from them. The sanctions took effect last
Friday.
The Chinese firms are: China National Aero-Technology Import
Export Corp (CATIC), China North Industries Corp (NORINCO), Zibo
Chemet Equipment Co, Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, Ounion
International Economic and Technical Cooperative Ltd, and Limmt
Metallurgy and Minerals Co.
Qin said China has a consistently responsible attitude toward
preventing weapons proliferation and has taken a series of
effective measures to strengthen export management and control.
"We urge the US government to rectify its wrong action," he
said.
In another development, Qin said China and the World Health
Organization (WHO) have already set up a sound cooperation
mechanism on preventing human cases of highly contagious avian
flu.
China reported seven human cases of bird flu this year. The
Ministry of Health approved the request of WHO Beijing Office for
the virus samples of human cases of the disease this month, and
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC)
has provided WHO with such virus samples, Qin said.
He stressed, "China's provision of the samples has proven its
sincerity and determination to cooperate with relevant
international organizations on the prevention and control of bird
flu."
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily December 30, 2005)