South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will pay a working visit to
China on October 13 at the invitation of President Hu Jintao, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu
Jianchao announced today.
This is the second time for Roh to visit China since he took
office in 2003. Roh paid a state visit to China for the first time
in July 2003, during which China and South Korea agreed to build an
all-round cooperative partnership.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to
China from October 8 to 9 at the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao, according to the spokesman.
"China and Japan reached a consensus on overcoming the political
obstacle to the bilateral relationship and promoting the sound
development of bilateral friendly and cooperative relationship,"
Liu said.
The Sino-Japanese relations have been soured by former Japanese
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni
Shrine, where Japan's war dead, including 14 WWII class-A war
criminals, are honored.
The leaders of the two countries halted exchange of visits since
Koizumi paid a homage to the shrine in 2001.
In another development, Liu said China hopes that North Korea
must keep calm and restraint on the nuclear test issue.
Liu's comment came after the North Korean Foreign Ministry
announced yesterday that it would conduct a nuclear test in the
future.
"We also hope that all relevant parties must address their
concerns through dialogues and consultations instead of taking
actions that may intensify the situation," Liu said.
The Chinese side has always maintained a denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula, and safeguarding peace and stability of the
peninsula and Northeast Asia through the six-party talks
process.
In yesterday's statement, North Korea said it will "in the
future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is
firmly guaranteed."
North Korea "will never use nuclear weapons first," the
statement added.
(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2006)