Beijing yesterday voiced its outrage at the double offence of
the Japanese government allowing Lee Teng-hui to visit the country
and if the former Taiwan leader visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.
"Based on what Lee Teng-hui has done in Japan, it is clear what
his intentions are, and we have again expressed our strong
dissatisfaction with the Japanese side for allowing Lee to visit
Japan," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said yesterday.
Lee, 84, explained that he visited the shrine to pay respect to
his elder brother, commemorated at the shrine for falling in World
War II. He is enshrined alongside recognized Japanese war
criminals.
Jiang explained China had repeatedly asked Japan to approach the
Taiwan question and historical issues in a proper manner.?
The Sino-Japanese relationship has seen marked improvement in
recent months with the high-level visits of Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe and Premier Wen Jiabao to the other's country in recent
months. President Hu Jintao and Abe are due to meet tomorrow on
the sidelines of the G8 summit in Germany.
Turning to the establishment of diplomatic ties between China
and Costa Rica, Jiang said this move was positive for both people
and would lead to extended cooperation in the fields of politics,
economy, culture, education and technology. She added that China is
preparing his ambassadorial mission for Costa Rica.
"We extend a welcome to President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and
other high-ranking officials to visit China," Jiang said.
Responding to a question about the lack of diplomatic links
between China and other Latin American countries, Jiang said that
China stands ready and willing to develop relations with all
countries, stating that the Taiwan issue remained the only obstacle
preventing this from happening with some nations.
Costa Rica is the 169th country to establish diplomatic
relations with China, part of an increasing trend which
demonstrates the widely accepted nature of the one-China policy.
China and Costa Rica forged diplomatic ties on Thursday after the
Central American state broke off official relations with
Taiwan.
Turning to US criticism of China's policy on Sudan, China
reiterated its strong dissatisfaction at this opposition.
The US House of Representatives passed a resolution on Wednesday
that Jiang accused of overlooking China's great efforts to stem the
bloodshed in Darfur. She slammed the resolution as being a crude
interference in China's domestic affairs.
She said that the world saw how China has sought to resolve the
Darfur issue politically and through dialogue between all relevant
parties, even naming a special envoy to oversee the humanitarian
efforts in the region.
"The resolution has sent out a much mistaken signal, which is
not conducive to Sino-US cooperation on the Darfur issue or to the
proper solution of the issue," Jiang said.
Jiang said some American officials, bowing to domestic political
pressure, were using Darfur to satisfy ulterior motives by
criticizing China.
In another development, Jiang said China was offended by a
meeting between US President George W. Bush and Xinjiang separatist
Rebiya Kadeer.
"Rebiya Kadeer is an out-and-out criminal," Jiang said. "The US'
words and deeds wantonly interfere in China's internal affairs, and
China is strongly opposed to such action,"
Jiang also announced yesterday that Philippines Secretary of
Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo would be in China from June 17 to 19
at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily June 8, 2007)
