China expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" Tuesday to the International Religious Freedom Report 2002, which was released by the State Department of the United States on Monday.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the part of the report related to China disregards reality, unreasonably censures China's religious policy and even gives high praise to the Falun Gong cult.

"This has trampled the basic rule of international relations and is also a rude interference in China's internal affairs," said Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue in a written press statement.

The Chinese Government protects the Chinese citizen's freedom of religious worship according to law and all peoples in China enjoy the freedom of religion, said Zhang.

Meanwhile, Chinese law does not allow any organization or people to conduct illegal criminal activities under the camouflage of religion, she said.

The Chinese Government's ban on the Falun Gong cult and its crackdown on terrorism in so-called East Turkistan aim to protect Chinese people's basic religious freedom and human rights, according to Zhang.

She urged the United States to stop interfering in China's internal affairs on the issue of religion and avoid the negative influence it has on Sino-US relations.

Separately, at the Foreign Ministry's regular press briefing Tuesday, questions about China's reaction to US President George W. Bush's speech on Monday were raised. In his speech Bush accused Iraq of developing weapons of mass destruction -- which it denies -- and warned that force may be used against the Mideast country.

Regarding the speech, Zhang said China has "maintained close contact and consultation on the Iraqi issue" with other United Nations (UN) Security Council members.

Meanwhile, Zhang refused to comment on US calls for military action against Iraq, saying that it was too early to comment on any draft resolution.

China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, has consistently called for a political and peaceful rather than a military resolution to the Iraq issue, insisting that decisions about Iraq should be made within the UN.

Zhang said that the most urgent task now is to allow an immediate return of United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq.

Baghdad must cooperate fully with the UN and implement all relevant Security Council resolutions, Zhang said.

At the same time, Zhang pointed out, the international community must be fair and objective in assessing Iraq's compliance with the resolutions.

Also Tuesday, Zhang confirmed that three unidentified people, suspected to be from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), entered a school run by the German Embassy in Beijing. Zhang said the incident is now being dealt with.

Last month 15 people from the DPRK were allowed to leave China for Seoul via Singapore after scaling walls into the school compound, where they stayed for a week.

Zhang said it is necessary to take some security measures around the German school to guarantee the safety of the teachers and pupils.

More than 100 DPRK people bolted into foreign missions in China this year, reports have said.

China has clearly expressed, on many occasions, that they are not refugees but illegal intruders.

(China Daily October 9, 2002)