The Foreign Ministry said yesterday China is to insist on its position and foreign policy to Japan no matter which party or person rules it.

 

The Chinese government always adheres to developing long-term friendly cooperative relations with Japan based on the principle of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future," the ministry's spokesperson Qin Gang told a regular press conference.

 

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will leave office when his term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expires next September.

   

It is believed that Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A WWII war criminals along with war dead, is the main reason for the deterioration of China-Japan ties.

 

The bilateral relationship, "which is of great importance, currently is confronted with difficulties," Qin said, mentioning that it is not China that should shoulder the responsibility for the stalemate.

 

Qin emphasized that China hopes to enhance friendly communication and cooperation with Japan in such fields as politics, economy, culture and non-governmental sectors.

 

The China-Japan relationship is cultivated through endless efforts by leaders of both countries and should be cherished, he said, adding that double efforts should also be made to cherish the base of bilateral relations to seek for greater achievements in various fields and ensure that bilateral relations be constantly improved and developed.

 

Turning to relations with Central American countries, Qin said China is ready to conduct normal exchanges with them on the basis of one-China policy.

 

He said it is quite uncommon that some Central American nations have not forged diplomatic ties with China.

 

He said China proposes to develop friendly relations of cooperation with all nations in the world on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, as it is not only in line with interests of China and these nations, but also conducive to the global and regional stability and common development.

 

Regarding the sanctions imposed by Washington against six Chinese companies accused of supplying military technology to Iran, Qin said they are "not beneficial to Sino-US cooperation in the non-proliferation field."

 

"We are strongly dissatisfied with, and firmly oppose, the sanctions," he said.

 

Washington announced the measures on Tuesday, accusing the Chinese firms of violating the 2000 Iran Non-proliferation Act. The US legislation aims to block international support for what it suspects are Iranian nuclear and chemical weapon programs.

 

Under the sanctions, the US will not provide export licenses to the Chinese companies for doing business in the US, and will ban US government purchases from them. The sanctions took effect last Friday.

 

The Chinese firms are: China National Aero-Technology Import Export Corp (CATIC), China North Industries Corp (NORINCO), Zibo Chemet Equipment Co, Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, Ounion International Economic and Technical Cooperative Ltd, and Limmt Metallurgy and Minerals Co.

 

Qin said China has a consistently responsible attitude toward preventing weapons proliferation and has taken a series of effective measures to strengthen export management and control.

 

"We urge the US government to rectify its wrong action," he said.

 

In another development, Qin said China and the World Health Organization (WHO) have already set up a sound cooperation mechanism on preventing human cases of highly contagious avian flu.

 

China reported seven human cases of bird flu this year. The Ministry of Health approved the request of WHO Beijing Office for the virus samples of human cases of the disease this month, and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) has provided WHO with such virus samples, Qin said.

 

He stressed, "China's provision of the samples has proven its sincerity and determination to cooperate with relevant international organizations on the prevention and control of bird flu."

 

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily December 30, 2005)