Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu confirmed in
Beijing on Thursday at a regular press conference that the Chinese
and US presidents will meet on the sidelines of the G-8 Summit.
"The heads of state will exchange views on Sino-US relations and
major international and regional issues of common concern," Jiang
added.
Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the outreach session of
the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia from July 16 to 17. The
session will discuss energy security, prevention and control of
epidemic diseases, education, African development and other
topics.
On the sidelines of the summit, Hu will hold a trilateral
meeting with leaders from Russia and India as well as a group
meeting with leaders from India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and
the Republic of Congo.
However, China ruled out a possible meeting with Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"We are busy arranging a series of bilateral meetings, but up to
now a China-Japan meeting is not included in the arrangement," said
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai at a news briefing
on Wednesday.
"There exist severe difficulties in China-Japan relations. I
think we all know clearly the obstacles and crux of the
difficulties," Cui said.
Sino-Japanese relations have been soured by Koizumi's repeated
visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead, including 14
convicted Class-A World War II criminals, are honored.
The leaders of the two countries halted visits following
Koizumi's homage at the war shrine soon after he took office in
2001.
Asked about the cooperation between China and the G8, Jiang said
China will enhance cooperation with the industrialized nations,
which have played roles in international affairs.
China will continue to increase dialogue and cooperation with
the G8 on the basis of equality and mutual benefits, Jiang
added.
China hoped that the summit could meet the concerns of all
parties, particularly the concerns of the developing countries.
As for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) missile
tests, China called on all parties to positively contribute to a
resolution of the tensions caused by DPRK missile tests, rather
than intensify the crisis.
"China supports a prudent and proper reaction from the UN
Security Council in a bid to prevent an escalation of tensions and
create conditions to resolve the issue through diplomatic efforts,"
Jiang said.
In a related development, China and Russia introduced a draft UN
Security Council resolution Wednesday, calling for the early
resumption of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear
issue.
Unlike the Japanese draft, the joint Chinese-Russian proposal
does not make sanctions mandatory and does not invoke Chapter Seven
of the UN charter, which can authorize sanctions or even military
action.
Jiang said the draft demonstrated that China and Russia, two
permanent members of the UNSC, were taking steps to ease the
tension.
China always held that UN action should be conducive to
maintaining the peace and stability of the northeast Asia, promote
the resumption of the six-party talks and enhance solidarity in the
Security Council, she said.
"We are opposed to the Japanese draft which cannot help to
realize these goals," she said.
Japan formally presented a draft resolution on Friday, seeking
sanctions against the DPRK.
Jiang said China had been making positive efforts to ease
tensions. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu led a delegation on an ongoing
official goodwill visit to the DPRK.
Wu Dawei, vice foreign minister and China's chief negotiator to
the six-party talks, accompanied Hui on the visit. He met with his
DPRK counterpart Kim Kye-gwan and other officials, and they
exchanged views on the situation, she said.
"We believe that one or two visits are not enough and the
efforts of China alone are not enough. All parties concerned should
make efforts," Jiang said.
Turning to Iran's nuclear issue, China urged Iran to respond to
a package of incentives to stop enriching uranium as soon as
possible, as the six nations agreed to return Iran's nuclear issue
to the UN Security Council.
"China hopes Iran will take constructive attitudes and make
positive response as soon as possible," Jiang said.
"Solving the issue through diplomatic negotiations complies with
the interests of the international community," said Jiang, calling
on parties related to make more diplomatic efforts in the nuclear
disputes and create conditions for earlier resumption of talks.
On June 6, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented
Tehran with a proposal package, backed by the five permanent UN
Security Council members -- China, France, Great Britain, Russia
and the US -- plus Germany.
The proposal includes both incentives and penalties aimed at
persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
Jiang said the package "demonstrates the important efforts made
by the parties concerned in a bid to restart negotiations on Iran
nuclear issue."
Iran refused again on Tuesday to commit itself to the suspension
of uranium enrichment. Iran said it would respond to the package by
August 22.
The foreign ministers from the six countries met on Wednesday in
Paris and agreed to return Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security
Council.
"We have no choice but to return to the UN Security Council and
take forward the process that was suspended two months ago," French
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.
"We have agreed to seek a UN Security Council resolution, which
would make the IAEA-required suspension mandatory," Douste-Blazy
said.
In another development, Jiang hailed the Good-Neighborly Treaty
of Friendship and Cooperation between China and Russia on its fifth
anniversary, pledging to further develop the strategic partnership
of cooperation.
"It's a milestone in bilateral ties, a great event on the
international scene at the beginning of the 21st century, and
serves as an example of state-to-state relations in the new era,"
Jiang said.
The then Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin signed the treaty in Moscow on July 16,
2001.
The 25-article treaty stresses a new type of state-to-state
relationship, which is not an alliance or a confrontation, and is
not targeted at any third party.
The treaty adds legal weight to the concept that China and
Russia should be friends from generation to generation and should
never turn against each other, according to Jiang.
China and Russia approved another document to implement the
treaty in 2004, which presented the principles and directions of
the cooperation in all fields from 2005 to 2008.
"In the last five years, Sino-Russian ties have enjoyed
energetic development," Jiang said.
She noted that the two countries have frequent exchanges of
high-level visits, which has enhanced mutual trust.
China and Russia have also settled all border issues, deepened
substantial cooperation in all fields and maintained close contact
on international and regional issues, she acknowledged.
"The Sino-Russian relations have reached an unprecedented high,
yielded great benefit for the two peoples and played an important
role in preserving regional and world peace and stability," she
said.
In other announcements, French Foreign Minister Philippe
Douste-Blazy will pay an official visit to China from July 20-21 as
the guest of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2006)