Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Thursday pledged that China
will continue to actively participate in and push for global
counter-terrorism efforts.
Noting that China has always been one of the victims of terrorism,
Kong said the nation has always strongly opposed terrorism in any
form and taken a series of measures to combat it.
China has actively participated in and pushed for the endorsement
of counter-terrorism resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly and
Security Council, Kong told Thursday's regular press briefing.
It
has established a counter-terrorism consultation mechanism with
many countries, including Britain, France, India, Pakistan and
Russia, Kong said.
China has also taken some internal measures in the fields of
finance, law, civil-aviation safety, and entry and exit management
to fight and prevent terrorism, he added.
Kong said these measures have paid off and China will continue to
co-operate and consult with other countries. He stressed that China
will learn from the effective measures taken by other countries to
strike accurately and relentlessly at terrorism.
The spokesman said global counter-terrorism efforts have achieved
obvious progress since the September 11 incident last year but the
task remains arduous.
He
urged the international community to co-operate more and implement
a comprehensive strategy based on the United Nations Charter.
"The counter-terrorism efforts should treat the issue by looking
into both the root cause and symptoms of terrorism and, at same
time, avoid linking terrorism with a specific country, nation or
religion,'' Kong said.
Kong said the counter-terrorism effort in Afghanistan is part of
global counter-terrorism.
"China, as a neighbour of Afghanistan, has taken part in the
peace-building and restoration process of Afghanistan,'' he
said.
Turning to the situation in Iraq, Kong confirmed that the United
States' Bush administration has contacted China on the issue.
"The core of the Iraq issue is the complete and effective
implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,''
Kong said.
"Iraq should resume its co-operation with the UN and accept the
return of UN inspectors to Baghdad, and Iraqi concern for its
territorial integrity and sovereignty should be respected,'' he
added.
Kong said China opposes the use or threat of force to solve the
issue and has always believed that the issue should be solved in a
political way within the framework of the United Nations.
Responding to a report that Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday
in favour of the deportation of Palestinian sister and brother
Intisar and Kifah Ajouri, accused by Israel of assisting their
brother Ali to carry out a bombing, Kong urged Israel not to make
any move that could hamper efforts to relieve tension in the Middle
East.
Commenting on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's September
17 visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kong said
China hopes that the situation on the Korean peninsula will
improve, which would benefit all East Asian countries.
(China
Daily September 6, 2002)