Illegal immigrants from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) who sneaked into China will be dealt with according to international norms and relevant Chinese law, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman has said on January 11.

Zhu Bangzao said in a regular press conference that China has always dealt with such incidents in line with international conventions and law, in a humanitarian manner and taking it into consideration to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

Zhu made the remarks in response to a question on Russia's recent hand-over to the Chinese government of seven DPRK citizens who sneaked into Russia before going to China.

There were always some DPRK citizens on China-DPRK border recently who tried to sneak into China, said Zhu, pointing out that those illegal immigrants do not belong to refugees either from the perspective of international law or from their purpose tocross the border.

The seven DPRK citizens handed over by Russia "are no differentfrom other illegal immigrants and therefore are not refugees as well, as their background and their purpose to cross the border show." (Xinhua)