- Title: CHINA: CHINA HAS PRESSED FOR A PEACEFUL SOLUTION OF THE IRAQ CRISIS
- Date: 30th January 2003
- Summary: (W3) BEIJING, CHINA (JANUARY 30, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN ZHANG QIYUE WALKING IN FOR REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING 0.05 2. SV JOURNALISTS 0.10 3. MCU (Mandarin) ZHANG SAYING: "Foreign Minister Tang said when speaking to Chinese journalists that the Iraq issue should be solved through political means w
- Embargoed: 14th February 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Reuters ID: LVA44RBGSMELIZZLER047J9M5EDL
- Story Text: China has pressed for a peaceful solution of the Iraq
crisis while urging Iraq to fully implement all U.N.
resolutions.
In a reaction to U.S. President Bush's State of the
Union address, China on Thursday (January 30) again pressed
for a peaceful solution of the Iraq crisis, while urging Iraq
to fully implement all U.N. resolutions.
"Foreign Minister Tang said when speaking to Chinese
journalists that the Iraq issue should be solved through
political means within the U.N. framework. He also said that
solving the Iraq issue through political means is a common
view of the international community. He said that the U.N.
Security Council has already passed a number of resolutions
and Iraq should fully and substantially carry out these
resolutions," China's Foreign Ministry
Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (pron: djang tchee yur) said.
With thousands of U.S. troops pouring into the Gulf
region, administration officials said U.S. President Bush and
his top aides were opening a final "diplomatic window" with
allies in a last-ditch attempt to avert a seemingly inevitable
war with Iraq.
In his State of the Union address, Bush provided no new
evidence against Iraq.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will appear before
the U.N. Security Council next week and is expected to lay out
intelligence showing Iraq has been concealing weapons of mass
destruction and consorting with terror groups.
China emphasized its efforts as a U.N. Security Council
member to avert war against Iraq.
"Tang said that China as a permanent member of the
Security Council has kept close contact with each side on the
Iraq issue and has been working hard with each side to push
forward the Iraq issue to be resolved through political means.
Tang emphasized that at this critical moment the U.N. Security
Council and the international community should continue to
work on this issue," Zhang said.
China welcomed the efforts by a South Korean delegation to
the North to work towards a peaceful resolution of the nuclear
crisis.
"We have noticed that a South Korean delegation has just
finished a visit to the DPRK. We believe this is in the
interest of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean
peninsula. We maintain a positive attitude towards any actions
which are conducive to peace and stability on the Korean
peninsula and any efforts to realise a denuclearised
peninsula. China has always played a constructive role on this
issue," Zhang said.
The South Korean presidential envoy who returned from
North Korea on Wednesday (January 29) without meeting the
reclusive leader Kim Jong-il said Kim had accepted a message
from the South's president on the nuclear crisis.
Meanwhile, North Korea demanded on Wednesday that the
United States withdraws all its nuclear weapons from South
Korea -- an action Washington says it carried out 12 years
ago.
The demand appeared to be the latest attempt to portray
the United States as the real military threat in the crisis
over the North's nuclear weapons programme.
In his State of the Union speech this year, Bush accused
North Korea of deceit and blackmail, but said Washington would
work with its allies for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
China said an American member of the banned Falun Gong
spiritual movement is suspected of sabotaging television and
radio broadcasting systems.
"I think the person you are talking about is probably the
one who is suspected of cutting electric cable for cable TV.
It was an event involving the damaging of public facilities,
disturbing Chinese citizens' normal life. We have said many
times that Falun Gong is an evil cult," Zhang said.
The U.S. embassy said Falun Gong member Chuck Lee was
taken into police custody on January 22.
Falun Gong identified the detainee as Charles Li from
California. He denied the charges but could be jailed for up
to 15 years if found guilty of hijacking the airwaves and
cables to broadcast Falun Gong material.
Separately, an Australian Falun Gong practitioner was
detained by police on the same day, the group said.
China banned Falun Gong in 1999 and branded it an "evil
cult". The group has been overriding television signals to
broadcast footage proclaiming the virtues of Falun Gong.
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