At the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Swedish
King Carl XVI Gustaf, Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the outreach session of
the G8 Summit held in Germany and pay a state visit to Sweden from
June 6 to 10. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the
announcement at a regular press conference Thursday in Beijing.
Jiang said Hu will attend a multilateral meeting of leaders of
the five developing countries participating in the session on June
8, and besides, he will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders
of some countries to the session, adding detailed schedule is still
under discussion.
Hu will pay a state visit to Sweden from June 8 to 10, the first
visit by a Chinese head of state to Sweden since the two countries
established diplomatic ties in 1950, according to Jiang.
She said President Hu will meet with Swedish King Gustaf,
Speaker Per Westerberg and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt,
respectively, reviewing the development of bilateral ties and
making plans for future development.
She said Hu will also meet with people from various circles of
Sweden, attend a ceremony of the returning of the replica of the
18th century Swedish merchant ship "Gotheborg" from a China tour
and deliver a speech at a banquet.
The two sides will sign a number of cooperation agreements on
environmental protection and other subjects, Jiang added.
Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi will attend the 11th St. Petersburg
International Economic Forum and activities related to the Year of
China in Russia from June 8 to 12, announced Jiang.
Jiang said Vice Premier Wu will attend the forum and the theme
year activities at the invitation of Russian First Deputy Prime
Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
Jiang said Wu's participation in the abovementioned activities
is a big event of the Year of China in Russia program, adding Wu
will attend a series of activities, including a round-table meeting
on China-Russia trade and investment cooperation, opening ceremony
of "Shanghai Week".
According to Jiang, the St. Petersburg International Economic
Forum is the largest economic forum in the CIS (the Commonwealth of
Independent States) and middle and east Europe region, held
annually in June in St. Petersburg, Russia.
China sent delegation to the forum in 2005 and 2006, she
added.
On the North Korean frozen funds issue, Jiang called for proper
solution to it with consideration of all parties' concerns.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei met with visiting US
representative Christopher Hill on Wednesday to discuss issues
related to the six-party talks including North Korean funds held by
the Macao-based Banco Delta Asia, said Jiang.
Saying he had "a good exchange" with the Chinese side, Hill said
the discussion touched on "where we are in the six-party talks
process".
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei also discussed with
Hill Sino-US relations. Both sides appraised the progress of
bilateral ties which featured multi-level exchanges, effective
consultation and cooperation in international and regional issues,
as well as the in-depth Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue and
strategic dialogue mechanism.
China and the United States wanted to continue to implement the
consensus reached by both leaders to enhance cooperation, dialogue
and mutual respect, and properly handle differences, especially on
the Taiwan issue, Jiang said.
In another development, China hopes Japan to seriously consider
the just demands of former Chinese laborers who were forced to work
in Japan during World War II.
Jiang told the press conference that the impressment of laborers
was a severe crime committed by the forces of Japanese militarism
during their invasion of China. It is also an issue left over from
history between the two countries.
China has been demanding the Japanese government to seriously
consider the issue and properly handle it.
The Japanese Supreme Court in late April rejected a damage
lawsuit filed by former Chinese laborers, saying Chinese
individuals had no right to demand war reparations from Japan.
The five plaintiffs demanded the Tokyo-based construction
contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co. to apologize and issue
compensations.
The lawsuit was filed in 1998 by Shao Yicheng, Song Yicheng and
three families of the deceased laborers, who were among some 360
Chinese forced by Nishimatsu Construction to toil under bitter
conditions at a work camp in Hiroshima prefecture in southern Japan
during World War II.
Also on Thursday China expressed its strong displeasure on the
Japanese government allowing Lee Teng-hui to visit Japan.
"The purpose of Lee Teng-hui's tour is to create fanfare for
'Taiwan Independence' and sabotage China-Japan relations, and we
have expressed our strong displeasure to the Japanese government
for its decision to allow this visit," Jiang said.
It was reported that Lee Teng-hui arrived in Japan on Wednesday
for a visit, during which he said he hoped to visit the Yasukuni
Shrine in Tokyo, where his elder brother is enshrined together with
Japanese war criminals of World War II.
On the Darfur issue, Jiang said that to impose new sanctions on
Sudan would only complicate the Darfur issue and is not conducive
to the settlement of the issue.
China hopes all parties concerned would exercise restraint and
patience, fully implement the third phase of UN peacekeeping plan
known as the Annan plan, continue to improve the humanitarian and
security situation in the Darfur region, and push forward the
political process of dialogue and consultation for the settlement
of the issue.
Jiang noted positive progress has been made on the Darfur issue
recently thanks to the joint efforts from all relevant parties,
adding that the Sudanese government is now waiting for UN-AU
(African Union) proposals on carrying out the third phase of the
Annan plan.
In order to solve the Darfur issue, the AU, the UN and the
Sudanese government agreed last November on a three-phase support
plan, also known as the Annan plan as it was put forward by then UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Referring to Iran nuclear issue, Jiang said China hopes the new
talks between Iran and EU could produce positive results, which
will help to resume formal negotiation at an early date and finally
seek comprehensive, long-term and proper solutions to the Iran's
nuclear issue.
It is the best choice to solve the Iran nuclear issue through
diplomatic negotiation, said Jiang, adding it accords with the
common interests of international community.
Iran said on Sunday that the fresh round of nuclear talks
between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European
Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will be held on Thursday
as scheduled in Madrid, Spain.
In late April, Larijani and Solana held two rounds of talks in
the Turkish capital of Ankara over Iran's uranium enrichment
program.
Jiang also announced on Thursday that Owen S. Arthur, prime
minister of Barbados, will pay an official visit to China from June
6 to 10 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2007)
