The Foreign Ministry stated yesterday that China's recent outer space test had not violated international rules.

"The experiment was not directed at any country nor did it pose any threat to any country," said ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a regular news briefing.

She reiterated China's stance as opposed to any weaponization or arms race in outer space.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday again expressed concern over China's recent outer space test, calling it "a troubling symptom of military activities that are outsized for Beijing's interests."

Responding to the creation of a new US-Africa Command headquarters, Jiang said China extends its fervent hope that all countries will work for peace, stability and development in Africa.

The Bush administration announced earlier this week that the Pentagon will establish a new US-Africa Command headquarters that will coordinate US military and security interests throughout the continent.

Jiang said China had received the report, and added that achieving lasting peace and stability in Africa is the common desire of all countries in the region.

Commenting on a trial in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jiang said the suspect, Huseyin Celil, is a Chinese citizen, effectively ruling out any application of the Consular Agreement signed between China and Canada in 1997.

Jiang was responding to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's alleged displeasure that Canadian diplomats did not attend the trial in China of the so-called Canadian citizen.

Jiang stressed that Celil is a Chinese citizen of Uygur ethnicity. He is on trial for his alleged involvement in a series of violent incidents and terrorism activities. She said Celil is on an international wanted list and is a key member of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, recognized as an international terrorist organization by the UN.

Celil was taken as a refugee by Canada in 2001 but was later arrested in Uzbekistan in 2006 and extradited to China on terrorism charges.

Commenting on China's recent scientific surveying activity in waters off the Diaoyu Islands, Jiang noted the "prior notification" mechanism set up by China and Japan for ocean surveying was there for an enhancement of mutual trust. It does not affect their respective stances on issues concerning maritime law, adding the mechanism did not concern the survey activity.

She said China was merely exercising its legitimate sovereign right when its vessel conducted a marine survey in the waters adjacent to the Diaoyu Islands.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2007)