Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang reiterated at a regular
press conference yesterday that China adheres to the path of
peaceful development and poses no threat to any country.
He made the remarks when asked to comment on claims by Seiji
Maehara, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, that China was a
"real threat."
Qin said it was necessary to review history and look into the
future in judging China's growth.
The Chinese people have a traditional respect for peace, and
China is concentrating all its efforts on economic growth in the
hope of improving the people's livelihood.
China adheres to the principle of building friendship and
partnership with neighboring countries and the policy of fostering
an amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighborhood, he said.
"China's development has neither posed a threat nor undermined
anybody's interests," he said.
China is bound to be a force in safeguarding world peace given
further economic progress in the future, he noted.
He stressed it's reasonable for a sovereign country like China
to keep an appropriate level of military spending so as to cover
the living expenses of those in the military service and to
safeguard its territorial integrity, national sovereignty and
security.
Qin quoted figures that indicated China's military expenses
reached US$25.6 billion last year. Japan reportedly spends 1.62
times of this amount, while it has one-tenth of China's population
and four percent of China's land area. The average military
spending on each member of the Japanese military was US$200,000, 15
times that of Chinese army staff.
"What is Japan's purpose maintaining such huge military
spending?" he asked.
He said it would be in the interest of the Japanese Democratic
Party, Japan and
Sino-Japanese relations if Seiji Maehara could do and say more
that is good for promoting friendly relations between China and
Japan.
Maehara, 43, made his first diplomatic mission to the United
States on December 6, and touched down in Beijing on Sunday for a
three-day visit.
As a guest of International Department of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China, Maehara held talks with State
Councilor Tang
Jiaxuan and the Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo.
Turning to East Asian cooperation, Qin said China adheres to the
principle of openness and transparency in the process of
cooperation.
He said: "China holds that East Asian cooperation should be open
and transparent, and it is in opposition to any exclusive regional
cooperation targeting any third party."
He made the remarks when commenting on the nonparticipation of
the US in the East Asian Summit.
"In this regard, China respects the consensus reached by ASEAN
nations, and supports them in playing a leading role in this
process," he noted.
As to WTO's Doha Round of free trade talks, he said that China
hopes it will solve the problems concerning developing
countries.
It is essential to give necessary special and discriminatory
treatment to them and "to reserve space for their strategic
development," he said.
The Doha round should make efforts to practically carry forwards
the process of trade liberalization and essentially increase the
opportunity of market access for WTO developing members and take
into consideration their problems in the process of trade
liberalization.
Turning to the Internet, Qin said that the Chinese government
prohibits a misuse of the Internet. "Work units and individuals are
not permitted to use the Internet to engage in illegal activities
or commit crimes," he said.
Qin was responding to a recent report by a US research institute
that said the Chinese military is probably behind an organized
hacker attack on US government computers.
Internet crime is illegal, he said, adding that China currently
has promulgated several laws on the protection of Internet
security, and the relevant regulations are stipulated in the
criminal law.
"What grounds does the US have for this accusation," he queried,
asking the US side to present its evidence if it has any.
He also announced that at the invitation of Vice President Zeng
Qinghong, Lupando Augustine Festus Mwape, vice president of the
Republic of Zambia, will pay an official visit to China from
December 15.
At the invitation of Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing, Antoinette Batumubwira, minister of external
relations and cooperation of the Republic of Burundi, will pay an
official visit to China from December 18 to 22.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily December 14,
2005)