PRESS CONFERENCE WITH ZHANG QIYUE
FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY

October 8, 2002

Excerpts

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Q: US President Bush made a speech on the Iraqi issue this morning, and how does China comment on this?  Will it change China’s view on the issue?

A: We have noticed the national address by President Bush on the Iraqi issue.  The position of the Chinese side on the Iraqi issue is consistent and clear, which can be summarized as follows.  Firstly, we demand that Iraq comprehensively and strictly implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.  Secondly, efforts should be made to sort out and wipe out Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions.  For this, the imperative is to readmit UN weapons inspectors to Iraq as soon as possible and carry out their work smoothly.  Thirdly, the Iraqi issue should be solved politically within the UN framework.

Q: Will China support a new UN resolution on the Iraqi issue, especially one advocated by the US?

A: I have just elaborated on the principled position of the Chinese side in this regard.  In the past few days, all members of the UN Security Council, including China, have maintained close contacts and consultations on the Iraqi issue.  But so far, we haven’t seen a new draft resolution at the Security Council.

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Q: The agreement between Iraq and UN weapons inspectors has satisfied some countries, and they adopt a wait-and-see attitude to wait for the investigation result.  But the US and Britain adopt a hard line approach, demanding the UN to come up with a tough resolution on Iraq to keep pressure on Saddam.  Does China believe that it is enough for UN weapons inspectors to return to Iraq soon or will China support the US in taking tougher action toward Iraq?

A: I have just expressed China’s principled position on the Iraqi issue. We believe that Iraq should comprehensively and strictly implement the relevant UNSC resolutions.  The UN has for years been reviewing and handling the Iraqi issue and so far, 59 resolutions have been adopted which touch upon the various aspects of this issue.  So we believe that Iraq should strictly implement the relevant resolutions and the imperative is to readmit UN weapons inspectors to Iraq as soon as possible to work out an objective report on the situation in Iraq.  On this basis, Security Council will have just and objective review on the issue.  We have noticed that the US has expressed on many occasions that they hope to see early return of UN weapons inspectors, and we believe at present this is the proper way to solve the issue.

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Q: Some foreign media reported that President Jiang Zemin would visit the US from 22 to 25 October.  Can you confirm it?  And is it a working visit or state visit?  Besides, on the Iraqi issue, France put forward a “two-step” proposal.  China seems to be in favor of the France proposal.  And if the UN Security Council discussed the France proposal, will China vote for it?

A: As for President Jiang’s visit to the US, I have said that we will announce the details of the visit in due course and at present I have nothing to offer.  What I want to point out is that this visit is an important event in China-US relations and the third meeting between the two heads of state within one year.  They will have wide and in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern and various aspects of China-US relations.  The strengthening of cooperation between China and the US, two major countries, is of great significance for peace and development of Asia-Pacific and world at large.  The two sides are actively preparing for it. As for your second question, in the past few days, the member states of the Security Council, including China have maintained close contacts and consultations on the Iraqi issue.  But so far, no member state in the Security Council has submitted a new draft proposal.  So at present it is too early to comment on any possible draft resolution. Thank you.