Speaking in Beijing Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang
said China's proposal to alter the threshold of resolutions
critical of nation states' human rights records conforms to the UN
Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) desire for justice.
Members of the UN's new human rights watchdog Tuesday agreed to
compromise on the methodology of investigating other states'
wrongdoings following China's proposal.?
After a year of gritty negotiation, the UNHRC has agreed on new
rules which will guide human rights violations investigations. Qin
said that Beijing had been cooperative fully in this project,
aiming to preserve the UNHRC's justice and objectivity.
Objection to US report
China denounced the US annual report on human trafficking, once
again urging Washington to regard Beijing's progress in the domain
in an objective and just way.
The US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons
Report released last week put China on the Tier 2 Watch List,
the second worst classification.
The report criticized China for its treatment of North Korean
nationals, who illegally stream across the border.
Qin said the Chinese government attaches great importance to
curbing human trafficking and has made "remarkable progress" with
continuous efforts bringing down the number of domestic cases.
Talking about the North Koreans, Qin pointed out that they were
not "refugees", having left their country for economic reasons. The
Chinese government has toed a legal and humanitarian line in
dealing with the issue, a fact hailed by much of the international
community.
"We hope the US government would have an objective and fair
review of all this," he said.
Taiwan UN Referendum
Qin attacked Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian's attempt to hold a
referendum about getting UN membership for Taiwan.
Such a move would negatively impact on cross-Straits relations,
and urged the international community to deal with the move, and
understand the real political motivation of Taiwan authorities.
Reports say US State Department officials have swiftly indicated
their rejection of such a referendum move, and called on Chen to
abandon the idea.
Darfur Issue
Beijing has used every diplomatic means to convince Khartoum to
cooperate fully with the United Nations and the African Union in
bringing peace to Darfur, Qin said.
His remarks echoed those of Chinese special representative for
African affairs Liu Guijin's comments who said that Beijing had
directly recommended that the Sudanese government bring an end to
the conflict in Darfur.
"In our own way and through various means, we have tried to
advise the Sudanese government to be more flexible," Liu was quoted
as saying. "Even on certain issues like (whether) to accept the
Annan Plan (for a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force) we
used the strongest possible terms to push them towards
flexibility."
However, Liu revealed China stood opposed to imposing further
sanctions on Sudan, calling them "counter-productive".
Qin appealed to the Western media to take stock of the entirety
of Liu's comments, saying China wished for a peaceful resolution to
the Darfur crisis.
China hopes the international community will treat the Sudanese
Government with respect in future dealings.
Against child labor
In response to criticism by foreign human rights groups of
China's use of child labor, Qin said China stood opposed to the
illegal employment of children. He added that those guilty of
employing child labor would be prosecuted to the full extent of the
law.
"We will listen to constructive criticism from the world, but we
should not confound criminal activities with the policy of the
Chinese government," Qin said.
Progress heralded in N Korean funds issue
China welcomed the positive progress made in resolving the
complicated situation of North Korea's frozen funds, adding the
parties concerned are in close contact about a specific date for
resuming the six-party nuclear talks.
Chinese chief nuclear envoy Wu Dawei met with his US counterpart
Christopher Hill in Beijing on Monday. They discussed the current
status of the nuclear talks and how to move the process forward,
and agreed to take active measures to implement the initial steps,
according to Qin.
Qin said he is unable to confirm whether North Korea has
received the unfrozen funds since the money was not remitted via
China.
"We hope that all the parties will continue to take positive
steps, abide by their commitments and take comprehensive and
balanced actions so that the six-party talks can make further
progress," the spokesman said.
At the invitation of North Korea, an IAEA delegation will visit
the country to discuss the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear
facility. North Korea's invitation came after it confirmed its
funds at the Macao bank were in the final phase of being
unfrozen.
North Korea's ambassador to Russia, Kim Yong Che, said on Monday
the funds had arrived at the Central Bank of Russia and will be
transferred to North Korean foreign trade bank via a Russian bank
in Khabarovsk.
Meanwhile, Hill expressed his optimism on Monday, adding the
shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear complex in North Korea would be
completed in a matter of weeks.
According to the agreement reached on Feb. 13 at the six-party
talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program, North Korea was supposed to
shut down and seal the Yongbyon facilities within 60 days in
exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.
Improving ties with the Vatican
China said Tuesday it sincerely hopes to improve relations with
the Vatican and asked for cooperation in this process. China wants
to continue its constructive dialogue with Vatican on the basis of
two principles, said Qin.
The first principle is that the Vatican must sever so-called
"diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities, and the second
principle is that it must not interfere in China's internal affairs
in the name of religion, Qin elaborated.
Relaxed controls for high-tech exports
China called for America to relax export controls on high-tech
products to China so as to redress the trade imbalance between the
two countries.
"Joint efforts are needed to enhance China-US trade cooperation
and we hope the US makes positive and constructive efforts on the
trade imbalance," Qin said.
"If the United States wants to redress the trade imbalance, it
should take concrete actions on high-tech products export," he
added.
According to the new US regulations, the United States will
tighten controls on military-use high-tech exports but will loosen
controls to certain "trusted customers" in China.
Criticism for Japan's controversial coral
project
China on Tuesday criticized the Japanese government for planting
coral around the uninhabited Pacific atoll of Okinotori, saying
that the action runs counter to international conventions.
Japanese officials on Monday said they had begun planting coral
on Okinotori in a US$4-million-project to defend its territory.
"Okinotori is not an island but a reef which is submerged at
high tides," said Qin.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLS), Okinotori --an uninhabited reef some 1,740 km south of
Tokyo -- does not have an exclusive economic zone or continental
shelf, Qin added.
"Japan hopes to expand its maritime territory around Okinotori
by planting coral. This action does not accord with recognized
international conventions and affects the interests of other
countries," he said.
UN Assembly president visits China
Sheika Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, president of the 61st session of
the United Nations General Assembly, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday
to start her six-day official visit to China, Qin announced.
She will address the opening ceremony of the tenth meeting of
the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and
Similar Institutions on Wednesday.
Her schedule in Beijing also includes talks with Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi, a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao, and a visit to the main Olympic
"Bird's Nest" stadium, before heading to Shanghai, according to
Qin.
Spanish King to visit China
Spanish King Juan Carlos I will pay a state visit to China from
June 24 to 29 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Qin announced.
King Juan Carlos will meet with President Hu, top legislator Wu Bangguo, and Premier Wen Jiabao respectively
during his stay in Beijing.
In addition, King Juan Carlos will also visit Shanghai in east
China and Chengdu in southwest China.
China highly appreciates Spain's support on issues pertaining to
China's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the
Spanish government's positive efforts to promote China-Europe
relations, he said.
"We expect that the Spanish King's visit will push forward
bilateral relations and friendly cooperation to a new height," said
Qin.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2007 )
