A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at Tuesday's regular press
conference that China firmly opposes the EU drawing a connection
between the removal of its arms embargo with human
rights.?
"We oppose the EU's linking of ban-lifting with the
human rights issue," said Liu Jianchao, adding that he noticed that
many EU members also believe the link is groundless.
An EU representative at the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) for foreign ministers had said that it would be difficult to
lift the ban soon unless there was clear progress in China's human
rights situation.
Liu said China has made great effort to improve the
human rights of its people in past years and fully understands that
there are still problems.
"China will continue to improve the human rights
situation, but that should by no means be relevant to the lifting
of the arms embargo," Liu said.
He urged the EU to lift the ban as soon as
possible, saying doing this would improve its relationship with
China.
The EU said it would aim to remove the embargo in
the first half of this year at a summit last December.
Turning to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Liu
said China welcomes any direct contact between Washington and
Pyongyang -- whether it is within or outside the framework of the
six-party talks.
He said Beijing believes any form of discussions
would be helpful to solve the nuclear stalemate.
"We would be pleased if Washington and Pyongyang
had direct contact in any form," he said. "We support any concrete
measure that is favorable to pursuing the denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula."
However, the conditions required for direct contact
between Pyongyang and Washington depend on the two parties
themselves, he noted.
"If the two sides can hold exchanges of opinion on
the issue, I believe it would be conducive to making progress to
the denuclearization process," he added.
US State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said on
Monday that the US is willing to have direct contact with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only within the
framework of six-party talks.
Casey's words came after the DPRK Foreign Ministry
said on Sunday that Pyongyang has no intention to stage bilateral
talks with Washington that are outside the six-party talks.
When asked to comment on the reports that the US
President George W. Bush called the DPRK leader a "tyrant," Liu
said "any party of the six-party talks should take measures and
words and actions that are favorable to their resumption, and
should not say or do anything not conducive to continuing
them."
On a proposal to entrust the UN Security Council to
deal with the DPRK nuclear program, Liu said China still regards
the six-party talks as the best way to solve the issue.
He said all the involved parties, including
Pyongyang and Washington, agreed to continue with the talks and
have pledged to renew efforts to restart stalled negotiations.
"We should not lose confidence and try our best to
push the talks forward," he said.
Liu repeated China's position of not asserting
pressure or imposing sanctions to pull the DPRK back to the
negotiating table, saying Beijing's political and trade relations
with Pyongyang should not be linked to the nuclear issue.
He said China would continue "normal state-to-state
and trade relations" with the DPRK.
The six-party talks, which involve China, the DPRK,
the US, South Korea, Russia and Japan, have been stalled since last
June after three rounds.
Asked if China believed Pyongyang was preparing for
a nuclear weapons test, Liu said he did not have any evidence or
confirmation from any sides.
It is reported that the DPRK yesterday accused the
US of "making a fuss" by reporting the nation's possible
preparations for a nuclear test.
Moving on to Sino-Japanese ties, Liu said that 60th
anniversary celebrations of victory in the War of Resistance
Against Japanese Aggression would not undermine their bilateral
relationship.
He made the remark when asked to comment on the
Japanese government's worry that the celebrations could trigger a
new wave of anti-Japanese sentiment in China.
"On the contrary, they are conducive, because they
will enable both nations to cherish the hard-won friendship and
cooperation on a correct view of history," Liu said.
A decree issued by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China on May 7 instructed local authorities to
stage celebrations commemorating the anniversary, but it did not
specify an agenda.
Japan invaded China in 1937 and surrendered in 1945
after two atom bombs were dropped by the US on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. On the Chinese side, the eight-year war caused 35,000,000
deaths and injuries.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits
to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals, and
Japanese textbooks that gloss over wartime atrocities have sparked
current anti-Japanese sentiment in China.
"It is not only the Chinese people who should
remember the victory, but also the Japanese people, because on that
day it is not only the Chinese people who were alleviated from
atrocities but also the Japanese people," Liu said.
He said China expects both sides to learn lessons
from history and look to the future.
While commenting on Russia's support for Egypt to
become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Liu said
China is against rushing any UN Security Council reform proposals
or forcing proposals though with a vote.?
He said China thinks any proposal should help the
Security Council better play its role of maintaining world peace
and security, contribute to its increased authority and afford
small and medium-sized countries more opportunities to participate
in its decision-making process.
He said the proposals are still under intense
discussion and the broadest possible consensus should be
sought.
Liu announced that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the
Palestinian National Authority, will visit from May 17 to 19 to
meet Chinese leaders about latest developments in the Middle East
region.
During his stay, President Hu Jintao
and Premier Wen
Jiabao are scheduled to confer with him on how to enhance the
relationship between China and the Palestine.
The two sides will sign agreements relating to
bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Liu added.
He also announced that Icelandic President Olafur
Ragnar Grimsson will visit from May 16 to 22.
??
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CRI.com
May 11, 2005)