Premier Wen Jiabao will attend a commemorative summit
between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) to be held on October 30 in Nanning, capital of south
China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The summit meeting, held in commemoration of the 15th
anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue
relationship, will also be attended by leaders from ASEAN
countries.
This will be the first such meeting held on Chinese soil. "This
is a historic event in China-ASEAN relations," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday at the resumed regular press
conference after the summer season.
Leaders from both sides will review the growth of China-ASEAN
friendly ties, and lay out the future development of bilateral
relations, Qin said, adding that the third China-ASEAN Expo, as
well as the third China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, will
also be held on the sidelines of the summit.
The ASEAN groups the nations of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
Qin said the third ministerial meeting of the China-Africa
Cooperation Forum will be held from November 3-5 in Beijing.
The summit will focus on "friendship, peace, cooperation and
development" between China and African nations.
Both Chinese and African leaders will review the achievements of
Sino-African friendship and cooperation over the past 50 years, and
blueprint future bilateral cooperation, Qin said, adding that
leaders from both sides will enjoy a frank exchange of opinions on
major international issues.
The Beijing summit comes after President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen toured several
African countries in April and June respectively this year, Qin
said.
The China-Africa Cooperation Forum has become an "important" and
"efficient" mechanism for collective dialogue between the two sides
since its launch in 2000, he said.
In another development, Christopher Hill, the US chief
negotiator to the six-party Korean nuclear talks, arrived in
Beijing yesterday afternoon from Tokyo, seeking fresh cooperation
with Asian counterparts to bring North Korea back to the
negotiating table. He will fly to Seoul Saturday.
Hill, the US assistant secretary of state, will meet with Vice
Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, the top delegate on the Chinese side,
and assistant foreign ministers Cui Tiankai and He Yafei
respectively during his stay in Beijing, Qin said.
Hill's last visit to China was in July, following an
international outcry to Pyongyang's test-firing of several
missiles. His current visit comes amid concerns that Pyongyang may
be considering conducting a nuclear weapons test.
Hill was quoted as saying that he had no new information on a
possible test by Pyongyang, but warned such a move could further
destabilize the region.
Meanwhile, reports of a possible trip to China by North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il were rejected by Qin. "As far as I know there is
no such arrangement for him to visit," he said.
South Korean media said Kim may have crossed the border into
China yesterday, coinciding with Hill's visit, to discuss the
possibility of resuming the talks.
The speculation came as the US has asked China to pressure
Pyongyang in returning to the negotiation table.
Qin explicitly reiterated China's opposition to sanctions,
insisting that China believes the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula should be brought about through diplomatic dialogue.
He said the six-party talks are an effective mechanism to solve
the issue, urging all concerned parties to show sincerity and
flexibility to push the talks forward.
The last round of the six-party talks ended in November without
agreement. The parties involved signed a declaration in September
2005 calling for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
The main stumbling-block has come from Pyongyang's refusal to
return unless Washington-imposed financial sanctions are
lifted.
Turning to the Iranian nuclear issue, Qin said Zhang Yan,
director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Arms Control and
Disarmament Department, will attend an international meeting in
Berlin tomorrow.
He said China believes the meeting will help promote the
international community's efforts to resume talks on the issue and
achieve the goal of a peaceful solution.
When asked to comment on the news that the five Central Asian
countries will sign a Central Asia nuclear weapons free zone treaty
in Kazakhstan on September 8, Qin said China welcomes this
move.
He said to establish a nuclear weapons free zone will help
prevent nuclear proliferation and promote the nuclear disarmament
process and ensure peace, security and stability in related
regions.
Qin noted that China and the five Central Asian countries --
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan --
share traditional friendly and cooperative relations and benefit
from mutual understanding on international and regional issues.
Also at yesterday's news briefing, Qin said Italian Prime
Minister Romano Prodi will visit China from September 13 to 18, and
Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom will visit from September
11 to 13.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily September 6, 2006)