Chinese FM, US Secretary of State Meet on DPRK, Iraq Issues

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 24, 2003

Chinese FM, US Secretary of State Meet on DPRK, Iraq Issues

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China hopes the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will begin talks on an equal footing as soon as possible, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Tang Jiaxuan said in Beijing Monday.

In his meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Colin Powell Monday morning, Tang said China supported the non-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula and insisted on maintaining peace, stability and security on the peninsula.

He said China held that the DPRK nuclear issue should be settled peacefully through dialogue and consultation.

China had been playing a constructive role in seeking such a solution, the foreign minister said, adding the Chinese side believed that the most effective way to break the current deadlock and ease the tension would be talks between the United States and the DPRK on an equal footing.

Powell said the nuclear issue in the DPRK was in a serious situation. He said a dialogue between the United States and the DPRK was necessary, but the involvement of the international community and the role of multilateral mechanisms were indispensable. The United States wanted to resolve the issue through diplomatic means, he said.

China hopes to avoid war in Iraq

As to the Iraq issue, Tang told Powell that China hopes all parties concerned will try every possible means to avoid war in Iraq and seek a political solution to the Iraq issue within the framework of the United Nations.

Tang said a political solution of the Iraq issue was in the interests of all the parties concerned. He expressed the wish that all such parties would keep in close contact, continue to work for a political solution and do everything possible to avoid war.

Powell briefed Tang on the United States' view of the current Iraq situation. He said the United States was planning to put forward a new draft resolution to the UN Security Council in the next few days.

Tang said most members of the international community, including China, believed it was imperative now to continue weapons inspection in Iraq to find out the truth, rather than working on a new UN resolution on Iraq.

At the same time, Tang said the Chinese side had always held that resolution No.1441 of the UN Security Council must be implemented in a comprehensive, sincere and precise way and Iraq should be more active and unconditional in its all-round cooperation with the United Nations.

Iraq's weapons of mass destruction must be completely destroyed, he said.

China to enhance constructive cooperation with US

China is ready to deepen understanding, strengthen cooperation and boost constructive and cooperative relations with the United States, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

Tang said big changes in the international situation had brought new opportunities and challenges to Sino-US relations. In line with the consensus reached between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President George W. Bush at Crawford in the United States, China was ready to join efforts with the United States to deepen mutual understanding, strengthen cooperation and boost constructive and cooperative relations with the United States, he said.

He said China would welcome a visit by US Vice-President Richard Cheney to China this spring. He expressed the belief that Cheney's visit to China would achieve positive results.

Tang said the Taiwan issue was at the core of China's interests, and properly handling this issue was the key to guaranteeing the stable development of bilateral relations. To avoid possible disruption to Sino-US relations, China called for the United States to strictly abide by the one-China policy, the three Sino-US joint communiques and all its commitments to China on the Taiwan issue, he said.

Powell said bilateral relations had made great progress over the past year or more. The two sides had cooperated well in such fields as high-ranking dialogues, personnel exchanges, anti-terrorism, economy and trade, he said.

Powell said Vice-President Cheney was expecting to visit China soon. He said the United States was ready to strengthen its cooperative relations with China.

He said the United States recognized the significance of the Taiwan issue to China. It would adhere to the one-China policy, abide by the three US-Sino joint communiques and would never support any activity for "Taiwan Independence", he said.

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