The Foreign Ministry announced that President Hu Jintao will pay state visits to eight
African countries starting at the end of the month.
Hu will visit Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South
Africa, Mozambique and the Seychelles between January 30 and
February 10, ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced at a regular
news briefing.
The visits reflect major diplomatic activity between China and
Africa following the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation held last November.
They are aimed at "consolidating traditional friendship" and
"expanding pragmatic cooperation" between China and the African
countries, Liu said. "China believes that Hu's tour will further
cement its traditional friendship with Africa, promote substantial
cooperation in various fields and boost its new-type strategic
partnership with Africa."
Outer space experiment 'no threat' to any country
Responding to concerns at a recent outer space experiment
conducted by Chinese scientists, Liu said China has always
advocated the peaceful use of outer space and opposes the
weaponization of space.
"China has never participated, and will never participate in any
arms race in outer space," Liu noted. "And this experiment was not
directed at any country and does not constitute a threat to any
country."
He added that China has informed such countries as the US and
Japan of the experiment.
China-Vatican relations
On the China-Vatican relationship, Liu said China is willing to
hold talks to improve ties.
"We are willing to maintain contacts and have dialogue with the
Vatican; and actively explore the approaches to improving bilateral
relations" if the Vatican severs its "diplomatic" ties with Taiwan,
and refrains from interfering in China's internal affairs on the
pretext of religious freedom, Liu said.
The Vatican concluded a meeting at the weekend specifically held
to discuss its relationship with China, where it agreed to set up a
permanent commission to handle China affairs.
The meeting revealed a will to hold "respectful and constructive
dialogue" with the Chinese government and to overcome the
misunderstandings of the past, said a church statement on
Monday.
"We appreciate the Vatican's willingness to have constructive
dialogue with the Chinese side," Liu said.
No date for resumption of six-party talks
Liu revealed that no date has been set for another round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear
issue.
All the countries involved have agreed to restart the
negotiations as soon as possible, but the date for resumption has
yet to be fixed, he said.
Japan's chief delegate to the talks Kenichiro Sasae will arrive
in Beijing today to discuss the issue with his Chinese counterpart
Wu Dawei.
"We believe these meetings and talks are good for the next phase
of six-party talks," said Liu. "The relevant parties are hoping for
an early resumption of the talks."
China has already begun preparing for the next round of
negotiations, he added.
Liu said China hoped for progress on implementing a September
2005 joint statement, through which Pyongyang agreed to give up its
nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and economic
aid.
"We hope related parties can reach a consensus on the actions to
be taken to implement the joint statement, and gradually set up a
mechanism for implementing it and lay out a timetable for concrete
measures," he said.
Special envoy to international conference on Lebanon
China will send Sun Bigan, its special envoy on the Middle-East
issue, to attend the upcoming international conference on aid for
Lebanon in Paris, Liu said, adding that China would strive to help
resolve the Lebanon issue during the conference.
The third international conference on aid for Lebanon will be
held in Paris tomorrow.
In a phone conversation earlier between Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad
Seniora, Li affirmed China's support for rebuilding efforts in
Lebanon.
A second Chinese engineering battalion headed for Lebanon on
Monday to join the UN peacekeeping mission there.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily January 24, 2007)