Russian Foreign Minister to Visit China: FM Spokeswoman

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 21, 2003

Russian Foreign Minister to Visit China: FM Spokeswoman

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Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is set to visit China next week to meet with Chinese leaders and discuss major international issues of common concern, China's foreign ministry announced Thursday.

"This will be a very important visit. The two sides will be conferring on many critical international issues,'' foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at Thursday's briefing.

Ivanov is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Tang Jiaxuan and other senior officials during the three-day visit, which will run from next Wednesday through Friday, following a weekend stopover by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, explained Zhang.

Powell's three-nation Asia tour, which will take him to Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, will mainly focus on talks to ease increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula as well as the Iraqi issue, analysts said.

"Powell is expected to urge Beijing to pressure the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon its intentions of developing nuclear weapons,'' said Pan Shaozhong, a professor with Beijing-based Foreign Affairs College.

"China's policy on this issue is very clear -- to encourage the two sides (US and DPRK) to hold direct talks,'' Pan told China Daily.

"If the US makes some concessions, the DPRK will not be as tough as they imagined,'' Pan said, noting that the DPRK's security concerns must be considered.

Pan noted that great efforts are required to bring the US and the DPRK to face-to-face on this issue.

A DPRK foreign ministry statement issued late on Tuesday accused Washington of "persistently'' turning down a non-aggression treaty and urged the US to come to the negotiating table.

However, the call for face-to-face talks between Pyongyang and Washington was rejected by the US Government, which insists that the DPRK must first dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

As well as discussions on the DPRK question, Pan said Powell is also expected to seek Beijing's understanding on the US' stance on using military action against Iraq and not to use its right of veto in the United Nations. Yet, Beijing is unlikely to change its position on the issue, insisting on a political solution within the framework of the United Nations, Pan said.

Anti-terror talks

China's foreign ministry Thursday commended the progress made in this week's anti-terrorism consultations between China and the United States, saying the talks will contribute to the further development of bilateral co-operation in the fight against terror.

The ministry said that the progress made between the two sides during the talks would enhance joint efforts to squash global terrorism as well as strengthen Sino-US ties.

Led by US State Department co-ordinator for counterterrorism J. Cofer Black, the US delegation arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to participate in the third session of Sino-US anti-terrorism consultation and the second consultation of the Sino-US Financial Counter-Terrorism Working Group.

In what the foreign ministry described as "positive, pragmatic and fruitful'' consultations, officials from the two countries exchanged their views on international and regional counter-terror conditions and their co-operation in the financial sector to fight against terrorism.

The next round of consultations will be held in the US during the second half of this year and next year respectively, said ministry sources.

Bilateral co-operation between China and the US to counter terrorism has been greatly intensified since the terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001.

At a Wednesday press conference, Black praised China for taking "active steps'' in fighting against terror, adding that China has "a key role to play'' in countering terror with its large population and its influence in the region.

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