APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) members share the
common goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, the Chinese Foreign
Ministry said yesterday.
China has always maintained that the Korean nuclear issue should
be solved through dialogue and consultation in order to maintain
peace and stability on the peninsula, ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu
told a regular news briefing.
She said that China wanted to work with other relevant parties
to ease current tensions and allow the early resumption of the six-party talks.
The last round of talks, involving China, the US, Russia, Japan,
South and North Korea, ended with a Chairman's Statement last
November, in which the parties agreed to resume negotiations as
soon as possible.
China will submit a report to the UN Security Council in the
coming days on the implementation of Resolution 1718, concerning
the imposing of comprehensive sanctions on Pyongyang, Jiang
added.
In response to potential formal multilateral talks on the
sidelines of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting slated from
November 17 to 19 in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jiang said she was not aware
of such arrangements.
Reports said that the US and Japan had sought to hold talks in
Hanoi among all participating states of the six-party talks except
North Korea.
According to the spokeswoman, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will hold bilateral talks with his
counterparts from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US,
Russia, South Korea and Peru on the sidelines of the meeting.
Jiang also reiterated China's stance of solving the Iran nuclear
issue through political and diplomatic efforts rather than resort
to UN sanctions, urging the continuation of dialogue.
She made the remarks after French Prime Minister Dominique de
Villepin reportedly called for the earliest adoption by the UN
Security Council of a resolution envisaging sanctions against
Iran.
"Any actions taken by the Security Council should be conducive
to reaching the goal of a peaceful solution and make room for
further diplomatic efforts," Jiang said.
She said UN action should help avert the escalation of
conflicts, and called on the international community to remain
committed to diplomacy.
Britain, France, Germany (the EU-3), China, Russia and the US
held another informal meeting on Monday in New York over possible
UN sanctions on Iran for its ongoing refusal to suspend its nuclear
enrichment activities.
Jiang said China appreciated and supported the EU-3's diplomacy
and their efforts to maintain contact and talks with Iran.
In another development, Jiang said that China attached great
importance to fighting against climate change and had implemented a
series of measures and policies to deal with the issue.
She said China has joined the UN framework on climate change and
signed over 50 international agreements on environmental
protection.
She called on developed countries that have not yet ratified the
Kyoto Protocol to keep their promises to protect the
environment.
China has made important contributions to reaching the
agreement's goals related to energy efficiency and renewable
energy, Jiang said, noting that China aims to reduce energy
consumption by 20 percent for each unit of GDP and major pollutants
emission by 10 percent, both by the end of 2010.
Jiang also rejected Japan's concern over Chinese gas activities
in the East China Sea, saying it was unnecessary as they fall
within Chinese territory rather than the disputed area.
On state visits, she announced that Bulgarian Prime Minister
Sergei Stanishev will visit China from November 19 to 23, Colombian
Vice President Francisco Santos Galderon from November 19 to 26,
and Mongolian Prime Minister Miegombyn Enkhbold from November 22 to
27.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2006)
