Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations Wang Guangya attended the international conference on Iraq Tuesday and delivered a speech on behalf of the Chinese government.

In his speech, Wang said Iraq's future should be determined by the Iraqi people and the independence, sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity of the country should be observed. The security problems in Iraq demand a comprehensive political solution and efforts made to improve the security situation in Iraq should fall within the framework of the development of the political process in the country, said Wang.

The Chinese government hopes the upcoming elections in Iraq, which should be just, democratic and transparent, would lead to the formation of a transitional government which represents the majority of the Iraqi people and has its due authority, he added. On the UN role in Iraq, Wang stressed China believes that the Iraq issue should be solved within the UN framework and China hopes the United Nations can have an important role in Iraq's reconstruction.

He said China also hopes Iraq can develop friendly and cooperative relations with its neighbors, adding the international community should take into consideration the views of Iraq's neighboring countries and the Arab nations to allow them to play a positive role in solving the Iraq problem.

When talking about the relations between China and Iraq, Wang said the Chinese people will always be a trust worthy friend of the Iraqi people as the two countries have enjoyed friendly relations during a long period.

He said China will donate material supplies worth US$1 million to help Iraq carry out the elections.

China is also willing to help train diplomats and professionals in economic and energy fields for Iraq, he added.

Wang arrived in the Egyptian Red Sea resort on Monday afternoon and directly headed into a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, during which he delivered a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The Chinese diplomat has also been engaged in a string of bilateral meetings with other delegates to the international conference, including German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The Iraq gathering, hosted by Egypt, brought together representatives of over 20 countries and regional and international organizations, including Iraq's neighboring countries, the G-8,China, the United Nations and the European Union.

The meeting ended Tuesday with the adoption of a 14-point final communique which called for international support for a democratic Iraq.

(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2004)