Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Tuesday that a Shanghai company, which provided charged counseling for US visa information and appointment reservation services, was closed for overcharging.
Kong made the remarks at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
Kong said Shanghai relevant departments received some reports from Chinese citizens complaining that they were overcharged by the company and authorities concerned carried out investigation into it.
The results turned out that the company's services on US visa information and appointment reservation have no approval from relevant Chinese authorities and neither the service fee it charged was approved, Kong said.
Under such circumstances, the Chinese relevant departments asked it to stop business operation immediately, Kong said.
Any company that is doing business in China should abide by the country's laws and regulations, he said.
He said the Chinese side has notified the US Embassy in China on the issue, and currently the two sides are having further consultations on it.
Kong also said as the Taiwan issue is the most sensitive and most crucial issue in Sino-US relations, China hopes the United States will honor its commitments and oppose "Taiwan independence" not only in words but in deeds.
According to the spokesman, China has consistently underscored that the United States should abide by the one-China policy and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, and oppose "Taiwan independence" and any words or deeds by Taiwan to unilaterally change the status quo of Taiwan.
China and the United States have conducted some exchanges on Taiwan issue recently, Kong acknowledged.
US President George W. Bush clarified his one-China stance last December and reiterated his commitment while meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi in Washington on April 21, who was there to attend the 15th session of the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, said Kong.
US Vice President Dick Cheney also declared the same one-China policy stance during his recent visit to China, Kong added.
The spokesman said "Taiwan issue is concerned with China's core interests and hence a vital issue of principle, and also the most sensitive and most crucial issue in bilateral relations."
China hopes that the United States follows its commitment and does not send wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces so as to maintain stability across Taiwan Straits and the overall situation to develop Sino-US relations in a healthy way, Kong said.
Commenting on the "concern or disappointment" expressed by the US and British officials on the constitutional development in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Kong said the decision made by the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Hong Kong's electoral methods was "indisputable."
The US and British officials said the decision made by the NPC Standing Committee did not comply with the commitment in the Sino-British joint statement to ensure Hong Kong's "high-level of autonomy."
Kong said the remarks made by the US and British officials "disregard the actual situation in Hong Kong and interfere in China's internal affairs."
China expressed firm opposition to these remarks, he said.
Any unbiased person could see that there is no democracy for Hong Kong residents before it returned to the motherland, he said.
Thanks to the implementation of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong", "high-degree of autonomy" and the Basic Law after Hong Kong returned to the motherland, Hong Kong residents enjoyed more extensive rights and freedom in accordance with law and were empowered to elect the chief executive of HKSAR, he said.
According to Kong, the 400-member Selection Committee elected HKSAR's first chief executive and the 800-member electoral committee elected the second chief executive.
The number of directly-elected members from constituencies in the 60-member Legislative Council have increased from 20 in the first Legislative Council to 24 in the second Legislative Council, and will rise to 30 in the election of the third Legislative Council in the upcoming September, he said.
"Obviously, the electoral methods for the chief executive and the Legislative Council have consistently taken into consideration Hong Kong's actual conditions and implemented the principle of gradual progress," the spokesman said.
The NPC Standing Committee's decision on electoral methods for the selection of the Hong Kong's chief executive in 2007 and formation of the Legislative Council in 2008 was "a significant decision" on HKSAR's constitutional development made by the NPC Standing Committee, in accordance with law, Kong said.
The decision has significant and far-reaching impact to completely implement the guideline of "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, earnestly safeguard the interests of various social circles in Hong Kong and Hong Kong residents in general, guarantee the gradual and healthy development of democratic system in the HKSAR in accordance with regulations in the Basic Law, and maintain and promote the long-term prosperity and stability in the HKSAR, the spokesman said.
The decision was made after seriously reviewing Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's report and listening to opinions of all sides, he said, adding that it is made in strict compliance with the legal procedures.
Contents of the decision comply with the principle of the gradual development of democratic system in Hong Kong as defined in the Basic Law and in line with Hong Kong's practical situation, he said.
The decision also "demonstrates the constant stance adopted by the central government to advocate and support the development of democracy in the HKSAR," Kong stressed.
In another development, Kong said that the European Union (EU) weapon sales embargo to China is "out of time" and it is unreasonable to link it up with human rights issues.
Kong said that the weapon sales embargo is a product of cold war mentality and should be abolished at an early date.
He said China-EU relations have developed very fast in recent years and the two sides have decided to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, which means that China and EU will improve political trust and economic cooperation and enhance coordination and cooperation in international affairs as well as in all other aspects.
Under such circumstances, the Chinese side thinks it is not appropriate and out of time to retain such an embargo, Kong said.
"For the sake of further promoting China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, we think it's better to abolish the embargo at an early date," he said.
In addition, Kong expressed his disagreement with the combination of the weapon sales embargo with human rights.
He said China has made continues progress in democracy and the legal system. "At the recent UN human rights session in Geneva, the majority of the international community spoke highly of China's achievements and progress in the area of human rights."
Kong said like many countries in the European Union, China's human rights condition is not perfect and still has some problems that should be worked on continuously.
"Therefore, I think it is unreasonable to combine the human rights issue with the embargo," he said.
Turning to the DPRK train explosion, Kong said that Chinese hospitals are prepared to provide medical assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in dealing with the tragedy.
Kong said that the hospitals in the Chinese city of Dandong bordering the DPRK will offer medical assistance to the DPRK if needed.
Chinese leaders sent messages of condolences to the victims of the explosion and the Chinese government made a swift decision to provide material assistance to the DPRK soon after the tragedy occurred, said Kong.
China's relief materials include food, tents and blankets, said Kong. The international community has also expressed their willingness to offer humanitarian aid to the DPRK, Kong added.
Over 160 people were killed and more than 1,300 injured in the train explosion that occurred at the Ryongchon railway station in the DPRK last Thursday.
Moving on to the Iraqi issue, Kong said that the sovereignty of Iraq is of course inseparable after the handover of its power that is scheduled for June 30.
"The Iraqi people should run their own country after the handover of its power so as to let the United Nations play its due role and create conditions for a lasting, secure, stable and peaceful Iraq in future," said Kong.
However, the situation in Iraq is turning increasingly more turbulent instead of moving toward a good direction, Kong acknowledged. "China is very concerned about that."
To settle the Iraqi issue, China holds that the voices of the Iraqi people from various strata should be heard on such major issues as transition and election, said Kong, adding that primary consensus can be reached according to their voices while the Iraqi sovereignty can be resumed based on the consensus.
Turning to the Cyprus issue, the spokesman said that China respects the choice of the Cypriots and will continue to make its efforts with the international community for a proper solution to the issue.
On last Saturday, most Greek Cypriots rejected UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan on Cyprus reunification while some 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots voted "yes" for the peace deal in referenda.
Kong said China has always maintained that the independent sovereignty and territory integrity of Cyprus should be respected and relevant UN resolutions on Cyprus should also be implemented.
The Chinese government sincerely hopes that the Cyprus issue will be resolved with a comprehensive, just and reasonable solution through continuous dialogue and patient negotiations between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, Kong said.
He said China believes that an early solution complies with the interests of the Cypriots will also benefit the regional peace, stability and development.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has expressed favorable remarks to the efforts of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as well as relevant parties on solving the Cyprus issue, Kong said.
"China will continue to join with the international community and exert its efforts for a proper solution to the Cyprus issue," he said.
Also at yesterday's briefing, the spokesman said that Chinese and German companies have suspended their contacts on the cooperative project concerning MOX, a fuel for nuclear power plants.
In response to a question on Sino-German MOX cooperative project, Kong said the Chinese company had had some initial contacts with the German firm for purchasing the equipment used to make MOX, but they had suspend the contacts afterwards.
Still, the two sides can have further contacts if they consider the cooperative project mutually beneficial and want to continue the project, but the contacts must be fair and transparent, added Kong.
The fuels used for nuclear power stations are called spent fuels, which are made up of unexhausted uranium and plutonium. Coming out of the two radioactive metallic elements, the mixed-oxide MOX will be again applied in nuclear power stations. The theory behind further processing is to improve the utilization ratio of the uranium resource and thus increase the economic benefits of a nuclear power station.
(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2004)
