French President Nicolas Sarkozy will pay a state visit to China
from November 25 to 27 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu
Jianchao announced at a regular press conference on Thursday.
Liu said the upcoming visit would be a great event for
China-France relations this year. China expects and believes that
the visit will advance the bilateral all-round strategic
partnership up to a new stage, he said.
To consolidate and develop bilateral ties not only meets the
fundamental interests of the two counties and two peoples, but also
is conducive toward world peace, stability and development, he
added.
This will be Sarkozy's first visit to China since he became
president in May of this year.
US urged to treat sailors fairly
Liu said the cargo ship that struck a bridge tower in San
Francisco has no business relations with the China Ocean Shipping
Corporation (COSCO).
Media reports said that the cargo ship "Cosco Busan" struck the
Bay Bridge in San Francisco on Wednesday of last week, spilling
thousands of gallons of oil into the bay.
Liu said that there were Chinese crewmembers aboard but the
freighter was run by a company of South Korea.
China hopes that the incident will be properly handled soon and
the environmental impact of the oil spill will be reduced, Liu
said.
China has urged the US side to ensure the safety and legal
rights of Chinese crewmembers, he added.
Japanese PM's visit welcomed at early date
"We hope Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda can visit China as early as
possible, and we hope his visit bears fruit," Liu said.
China believes maintaining high-level visits between the two
countries could actively promote a more sustainable improvement and
development of bilateral ties, Liu said.
Joint efforts called to promote East China Sea talks
process
Liu called on Japan to make joint efforts with China to promote
the process of bilateral consultations on the East China Sea
issue.
"China is ready to promote consultations in accordance with the
consensus reached between leaders of the two countries and the
guidelines of relevant principles, and China will contribute to the
realization of joint development to maintain stability in the East
China Sea. We hope Japan will make joint efforts with China toward
this goal," said Liu.
Liu also implied that the results of the latest round of
consultations, held on Wednesday, would not influence Japanese
Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo's plan to visit China.
"China and Japan, both influential countries in the region,
attach great importance to their mutual relations. The two share
broad common interests and cooperation fields. The East China Sea
issue is just one part of China-Japan relations," said Liu.
Regret expressed over Japan's permission of Dalai Lama's
visit
"We have reiterated many times our opposition to any country
providing either convenience or platform for the Dalai Lama's
activities aimed at separating China. We expressed our regret over
Japan's permission to grant the Dalai Lama's entry into Japan and
his visit to that country," said Liu.
He said that the Dalai Lama has long been engaged in activities
aimed at separating China, and no country or people in the world
that upholds justice would support such activities.
Iran encouraged to continue cooperation with IAEA,
EU
China has encouraged Iran to continue dialogues and cooperation
with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European
Union (EU).
Iran has stated several times that it has no intention of
developing nuclear weapons, Liu said, adding that consultation and
dialogues are required in order to help the international community
to believe in Iran's sincerity.
China always advocates firmly maintaining an international
non-proliferation system, Liu added.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visited Iran on Tuesday, and met
with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his Iranian counterpart
Manouchehr Mottaki and Supreme National Security Council Secretary
Saeed Jalili.
Ahmadinejad told Yang that Iran is building positive cooperation
with the IAEA and that Iran is willing to maintain active contacts
with the EU.
Iran is also ready to continue its communications with China and
other sides over its nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad said.
Mexican secretary of foreign relations to visit
China
At the invitation of Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Secretary of
Foreign Relations of Mexico Patricia Espinosa Cantellano will pay
an official visit to China from November 21 to 24, Liu
announced.
Liu said China attaches great importance to the visit by the
Mexican secretary of foreign relations. During the visit Yang will
hold talks with her and Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with her.
Liu said China hopes the visit can further strengthen mutual
understanding and cooperation between the two countries.
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2007)
