At Thursday's regular press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kong Quan reiterated China's stance on the approaching Iraqi election planned for January 30.
"We think that the election is an important step in Iraq's political reconstruction," he said. "It should be conducive to upholding Iraq's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and to forming a widely representative and authoritative government. It should also protect the fundamental interests of the Iraqi people."
He stressed that the will and opinions of the Iraqi people should be understood and respected. He especially stressed that Iraq should be governed by the Iraqi people.
He expressed his concern as to when that principle can be realized, and when UN involvement in political and economic reconstruction can be begun.
When answering a question on whether the eight Chinese citizens who had been kidnapped in Iraq were illegally working there, Kong said China opposes any form of illegal migration and is willing to crack down on it through international cooperation.
A videotape of the eight being held by masked gunmen was aired on Qatari Aljazeera TV on January 18. Aged between 18 and 40 and all from Pingtan County in Fujian Province, they had been working at a textile factory in the southern city of Najaf and were kidnapped en route to Jordan. They were delivered to the Chinese Embassy in Baghdad on January 23 and returned to Fujian on Wednesday.
Kong said they went to Iraq through intermediaries and that the government will investigate the agencies involved and punish any illegalities.
On the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Kong said China hopes the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Japan can solve their disputes through consultation and communication. He called on all involved to make joint efforts for an early resumption of the next round of six-party talks.
Kong described the recent meeting with ASEAN countries on a tsunami early warning system as a success. Experts from China, ASEAN and international organizations held in-depth discussions on the subject from January 25 to 26.
Kong said Vice Premier Huang Ju will travel to the Swiss city of Davos on Friday to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which started Wednesday and will last until Sunday. The theme of this year's forum is "Assuming Responsibility for Difficult Decisions."
Huang will speak about the development of China's economy. The Chinese delegation will join participants from other countries to discuss how to confront the challenges of globalization.
Kong also said Finance Minister Jin Renqing and Governor Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China will attend the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers' meeting in London, UK next week to discuss the renminbi issue with their counterparts.
Responding to a question about US President George W. Bush's comment on Wednesday that the Chinese currency issue will be high on the G7 meeting's agenda, he said China and the US have been communicating on the exchange rate issue for a long time.
Also responding to Bush's comment that he would "constantly remind" Chinese leaders to make progress on human rights, Kong said that such a reminder was uncalled for but that equal dialogue is welcome. "Anyone can see that China is improving democracy and the rule of law," he said.
Kong announced that State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan will visit Russia from February 1 to 4 as a guest of Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov, secretary of the Russian Security Council. They will discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern.
Kong also said that Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will visit from February 1 to 5 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
(CRI.com, China Daily, Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2005)
