Chinese FM Calls for Political Settlement of Iraq issue

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 06, 2003

Chinese FM Calls for Political Settlement of Iraq issue

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan urged the international community Wednesday to make the utmost effort for a political settlement of the Iraq issue as long as there is still the slightest hope.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan urged the international community Wednesday to make the utmost effort for a political settlement of the Iraq issue as long as there is still the slightest hope.

He made the remarks at the United Nation Security Council meeting on Iraq where US Secretary of State Colin Powell made a presentation to the council on evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Tang said council members have attached great importance to theauthority and role of the council, citing the nearly full attendance by foreign ministers of the council members at the meeting.

"This is of crucial importance to the solution of the Iraq issue and represents the desire of the international community," he added.

The minister said China welcomes the US move to provide information and evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to the United Nations.

He said China believes such a move is consistent with the spirit of resolution 1441 and could help increase transparency. Hehoped other parties will hand over their information and evidence to the United Nations Monitoring and Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"This will help them go on with inspections in a more effectivemanner and evaluate the information and evidence through on-the-spot inspections," he said, adding that the two agencies should also report their findings to the council in a timely manner.

He praised the two UN agencies for their hard and worthwhile work over the past two months, and said their view that inspections should continue before they can come to any conclusions should be respected.

He reiterated China's stand that inspections should continue and expressed the hope that the trip to Iraq by the two chief UN inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei would yield positive results.

He also urged Iraq to adopt a more proactive approach, further explain and clarify the outstanding questions as soon as possible and better cooperate with the UN inspectors who pinpointed some questions in the inspection process.

Tang stressed that it is up to the council members to decide what would be the next step through consultation on the basis of the inspection outcome. He said the most important thing at present remains the full implementation of the resolution 1441, which represents the common stand of the council members on the elimination of weapons of mass destruction.

Tang asked the council to attach great importance to the commondesire of the international community for a political settlement of the issue and expressed China's willingness to join others in working to that end.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China to Push for Political Solution to Iraq Issue

Chinese FM Reiterates China's Stand on Iraq Issue

Beijing Posts Sharp Increase in Auto Sales ( 2 Messages)

Bush Vows to Disarm Iraq by Force if Necessary ( 8 Messages)

Saddam Says Iraq Ready to "Defeat" US Troops ( 2 Messages)

US Space Shuttle Colombia Crashed Before Landing ( 3 Messages)

Brazil Announces Line-up for Friendly Against China ( 4 Messages)