Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said on Tuesday China
attaches great importance to the coming visit by Japanese Prime
Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
Qin said at a regular press conference that Fukuda's visit is
another important measure to further improve and develop the
China-Japan relations, following the ice-breaking and thawing trips
by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, respectively.
He said the visit is of great significance for promoting the
healthy and steady development of China-Japan relations. "China
attaches great importance to the Prime Minister Fukuda's visit, and
is ready to make joint efforts with Japan to enhance political
mutual trust, expand common interests, deepen practical cooperation
in various fields through this visit," he said.
On the East China Sea issue, Qin said China and Japan do have
differences on the issue, and the two sides have encountered some
difficulties in their consultations on the issue, but he stressed
that China has always adopted an active and pragmatic attitude on
this issue.
"China is ready to continue equal consultations with Japan,
based on the principle of putting aside disputes and seeking joint
exploration and the five-point consensus reached by the Chinese and
Japanese leaders, and strive to find a solution to the issue
acceptable to both sides," said Qin.
"At the same time, we hope the Japanese side will go in the same
direction and make joint efforts with China to early find a proper
solution to the issue," Qin added.
Taiwan issue is another topic of great concern during Fukuda's
visit. Qin said the issue concerns China's core interests and China
attaches great importance to the repeated statement by the Japanese
side on adhering to the one-China policy and not supporting "Taiwan
independence" and "UN membership referendum" by Taiwan
authorities.
"We hope Japan will proceed from the general situation of
safeguarding regional peace and stability and China-Japan
relations, and handle the matters related to Taiwan with
discretion," Qin stressed.
According to Qin, Fukuda will arrive in Beijing on Thursday
afternoon for a four-day official visit. He will hold talks with
Premier Wen Jiabao, and meet with President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo, respectively, on Friday.
Fukuda will also give a speech at the prestigious Peking
University, visit a primary school in Beijing, and visit Tianjin, a city neighboring Beijing, and Qufu
of Shandong Province, the hometown of
Confucius.
Thai election
China was gratified to see the recent Thai election go smoothly,
said Qin, adding as a good neighbor of Thailand, China respected
the Thai people's choice.
"We sincerely hope Thailand could maintain political stability,
with the Thai people living a happy and harmonious life, and that
the strategic cooperative ties between China and Thailand could
continue to develop," Qin said.
The Election Commission (EC) of Thailand on Tuesday announced
the official vote counting results of the Sunday's general
election, which showed that the pro-Thaksin People Power Party won
233 of all the 480 parliament seats.
PPP leader Samak Sundaravej said that his party would like to
invite other parties to join in a coalition government.
N Korean nuclear disablement
Most of work on disabling the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon of
North Korea is to be completed by the end of this year, said
Qin.
Qin said China, as the chair of the six-party talks, would continue to keep close
consultation and coordination so as to strive for an all-round and
balanced implementation of the second phase action plan.
The commitments made by the other parties have also been
actively and gradually carried out, Qin added.
According to a six-party talks joint document released in
Beijing on Oct. 3, the DPRK agreed to disable all its existing
nuclear facilities and provide a complete and correct declaration
of all its nuclear programs by the end of this year.
The document said the disablement of the five-megawatt
Experimental Reactor, the Reprocessing Plant (Radiochemical
Laboratory) and the Nuclear Fuel Rod Fabrication Facility in
Yongbyon would be completed by Dec. 31.
Nepal peace process
China welcomes the progress made in the peace process of Nepal,
said Qin.
"As a good neighbor, we sincerely hope the peace process would
keep going to realize the political stability and economic
development of Nepal," he said.
This also conforms to the fundamental interest of Nepal and
benefits the regional peace and development," he added.
He said the Chinese government observes the principle of
non-interference in the other countries' internal affairs, and
respects Nepalese people's choice for their own social system and
way of development and will continue to play constructive role in
peace and stability of Nepal.
The top leaders of Nepal's ruling Seven-Party Alliance (SPA)
Sunday signed a 23-point agreement, ending months-long political
stalemate and paving the way for the Constituent Assembly (CA)
elections by mid April 2008.
(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2007)
