Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at Thursday's
regular press conference that the US House of Representatives'
resolution on China's Anti-Secession
Law violates the principles of three joint
communiqués between China and the US as well as the basic
principles of international relations.
"It is rude interference in China's internal affairs," said
Liu.
The House of Representatives approved a resolution expressing
its "grave concern" about China's Anti-Secession Law, which was
adopted by the National People's Congress, China's top legislative
body on Monday.
"The Anti-Secession Law . . . is a law for peaceful
reunification. It is not a law meant to use force toward Taiwan nor
is it a war bill," said Liu.
He?said the law, which has won support from the
international community, would benefit peace, stability and
prosperity in the region and would also benefit the steady
development of
Sino-US relations.
In response to a Japanese media report that Japan will stop
providing new yen loans to China by the time of the 2008 Beijing
Olympics, Liu said the low-interest loans from Japan to China --
one portion of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans --
are capital cooperation.
He said history calls upon both countries to handle the issue
properly in a spirit of responsibility toward the
Sino-Japanese relationship and bilateral cooperation.
Japanese media quoted Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura as
saying that Japan and China had agreed to end the loans by 2008.
The Japanese Embassy in China denied knowledge of any official
decision in this regard.
Japan's ODA for China includes long-term yen loans, free grants
and technical assistance. Most of the aid has come in the form of
yen loans.
Liu said China would be happy to work with Paul Wolfowitz if he
is appointed as the next World Bank chief and called on the World
Bank to keep listening to voices from developing countries.
"We believe that the World Bank, as the most important
international development agency, plays a very important role in
the area of aid . . . and we hope the new president will continue
to promote sustainable and balanced development of the world
economy," said Liu.
Vice President Zeng
Qinghong and US Vice President Dick Cheney discussed
Wolfowitz's nomination in a telephone conversation on Wednesday,
according to the Foreign Ministry, but no details were
revealed.
Turning to the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, which begins on March 20, Liu said China
anticipates success in discussions of Sino-US ties, talks and
cooperation in international and regional affairs.
Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing and other leaders are scheduled to meet with Rice
during her two-day visit. It will be her first visit to China since
she became the top US diplomat in January, although she has been to
the country twice since 2002.
With respect to the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue,
Liu said China will continue its efforts to achieve a denuclearized
Korean Peninsula, but all parties must be involved if the talks are
to succeed.
On Wednesday,?the Democratic People's Republic
of?Korea ruled out a return to the stalled six-party talks
unless the United States retracts its description of Pyongyang as
an "outpost of tyranny."
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CRI.com March 18,
2005)