CHINA: China's Foreign Ministry press conference calls on nations involved in talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme to work towards restarting the negotiations

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday (November 30) called on nations involved in talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme to work towards restarting the negotiations. Nuclear talks negotiators from the United States, South Korea and the reclusive North have been in Beijing for a week of bilateral and trilateral meetings that host China said were useful. "Through some trilateral and bilateral conversations, the three parties have enhanced mutual understanding. And we have expressed our willingness to continue our efforts to realise peace and stability on the Korean Penninsula. We think it is beneficial to us to further understand the positions and concerns of the relevant parties. We hope all parties can take a flexible and practical attitude. We should make efforts to resume the six-party talks as soon as possible and hope to achieve active progress," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu (pron: djee-ahng yoo) told a regular news conference. North Korea agreed to return to the talks -- which also involve South Korea, the United States, host China, Japan and Russia -- after its first nuclear test last month triggered U.N.-backed sanctions. U.S. officials have said they want North Korea, without condition, to stand by last year's agreement in which it said it was committed "to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes". In return, the other nations held out economic, political and security incentives. China said that the U.N. was the best recourse for finding a solution to the increasingly deadly and unpopular war in Iraq. "We have always maintained that the Iraq issue should be resolved properly by U.N. Security council resolutions. We hope Iraq can maintain stability. And Iraq should be governed by the Iraqi people. We hope the people of Iraq will lead a peaceful and tranquil life. Concerning the situation in the Middle East, we think relevant countries in the region should develop mutual understanding. This will be beneficial to the peace and stability of that region," said Jiang Yu. The Iraq Study Group has decided to recommend the U.S. military transition from a combat to a support role in Iraq roughly over the next year, a source familiar with the panel's deliberations said on Wednesday (November 29). The recommendation by the independent, bipartisan panel would be to pull U.S. fighting forces back to bases inside Iraq, and in the region, as the U.S. military sought to begin to withdraw from combat, the source said. China said that it wanted talks with the Vatican about establish ties, but said it had conditions. "We hope the Vatican will take full consideration of Sino-Vatican relations and the current conditions for the Chinese Catholic community. They should take an active view of the self-selection and self-consecration of bishops in China. The position China maintains towards the Vatican is consistent. This position is that we stick to two principles: one is that the Vatican should cut off its so-called diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The other is that the Vatican should not interfere with China's internal affairs using religion as an excuse. We have always been sincere in the improvement of Sino-Vatican relations. We want to have consultations to find a way to establish relations with the Vatican on the basis of these two principles," said Jiang Yu. A 36-year-old Chinese priest was consecrated as an auxiliary bishop on Thursday (November 30) without the Pope's blessing, threatening to strain ties with the Vatican. Beijing and the Vatican severed ties after the 1949 Communist take-over in China and a subsequent crackdown on religion and the dispute over who has a say in the appointment of bishops has impeded détente. The Vatican has yet to comment on the consecration. China defended its sentencing of Zhao Yan (pron: djah-ow yehn) - a New York Times researcher - to three years in prison on fraud charges. "China is a country ruled by law. The case you just mentioned has always been handled according to Chinese law and relevant legal processes," said Jiang Yu. While it has given its people greater economic and political freedoms in recent years, China has also clamped down on critics. China responded to reports that three members of an underground Chinese Christian sect had been executed for the murder of 20 followers of a rival group. "China is a country ruled by law. The case you just mentioned has always been handled according to Chinese law and relevant legal processes," said Jiang Yu. Xu Shuangfu, founder of the "Three Grades of Servants", or "Church of Truth", and two other members, Li Maoxing and Wang Jun, were executed last week, Xu's lawyer told Reuters. Xu and other members of the small church were accused of murdering 20 people between 2002 and 2004, mainly members of the rival Oriental Lightning Church which Xu had been reported as saying was controlled by the devil. Another nine people had been executed in the case in which 63 people nationwide had been charged and 22 sentenced to death, lawyer Li Heping said, citing the court's verdict. Since the end of China's chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the ruling Communist Party has allowed the practice of religion in controlled settings, but it has faced constant challenges from underground groups that reject its authority.

ITN Source | November 30, 2006

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