Jiang made the remarks during his meeting with Republic of Korea (ROK) President Kim Dae-jung after the conclusion of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders' meeting.

He said China has consistently worked to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and it hopes that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States can settle the dispute through dialogue, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The DPRK acknowledged earlier this month that it has been working on a nuclear weapons programme, causing extensive global concern. The issue was a key topic during Jiang's meeting with US President George W. Bush last week, when Jiang said China "was completely in the dark about the programme.''

Kim Dae-jung congratulated Jiang on his successful visit to the US and briefed Jiang about the ROK's stand on the latest situation on the peninsula.

In a separate meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov Monday, the Chinese president again condemned the hostage crisis perpetrated by alleged Chechen rebels in a Moscow theatre, and expressed China's firm support for the Russian Government's actions in Chechnya against terrorism.

Jiang said he was pleased that the crisis had been settled, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Russian special forces stormed the theatre, in which scores of armed men had taken 1,000 theatre-goers hostage. Reports said that about 50 militants and more than 100 hostages were killed in the operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled his trip to the APEC meeting, and sent Kasyanov instead.

Kasyanov conveyed Putin's greetings to Jiang, and said Putin was looking forward to his scheduled meeting with Jiang in Beijing in December.

Jiang commended the state of Sino-Russian relations, and said bilateral ties have been built on a sound political, economic and social basis.

Russia and China's good neighbourly relations have been developing smoothly, Kasyanov echoed, and Russia hopes to advance the ties by expanding exchanges of personnel, and through cultural and educational co-operation.

During his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Monday, Jiang reiterated that "drawing lessons from the past while looking into the future'' serves as an essential principle in developing Sino-Japanese relations.

"Japan's attitude towards historical issues (the Japanese invasion of China in 1930s and 1940s) affects the feelings of 1.3 billion Chinese people,'' Jiang told Koizumi. Both were in Los Cabos attending the APEC meeting.

"(We) hope that Japan, the Japanese leaders in particular, will take a correct attitude, and properly handle related issues so as to ensure long-term friendship,'' Jiang said.

Koizumi said Japan hopes to consolidate relations with China. The large-scale activities held last month to mark the 30th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties demonstrated that Sino-Japanese relations have a solid foundation.

Japan will continue to reflect deeply on the war so as not to let it happen again, Koizumi was quoted as saying by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

(China Daily October 29, 2002)