REMARKS BY TANG JIAXUAN
CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY

June 3, 2001

Excerpt

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Q: (Middle East News Agency) President Bush announced that China is going to investigate its involvement in the establishment of fiber-optical system in Iraq. And China denied it. They will ask what is the problem if this system is already approved by the United Nations as foreign diplomats say.

A: Concerning your question, the relevant agencies in China have carried out some serious investigations. The result of the investigation is that Chinese enterprises and corporations have not assisted Iraq in building the project of fiber-optic cable for air defense. As is known to you, the Chinese government has always been very serious, very strict and always very responsible in implementing the relevant UN resolutions on Iraq. And the Chinese government has very clear-cut provisions which have been reaffirmed to corporations and enterprises many times around China which prohibit any company or individual from engaging in any activity, economic activities or trading activities which go against the UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq. In other words, all these enterprises and individuals in China must strictly abide by these resolutions. So this time, these provisions will have been once again reaffirmed to corporations nationwide. We in China have been very serious and responsible in this question and we have a very good track record in the United Nations. And indeed, there is the question why the US side should, all of a sudden, put forward this question, as you have been also asking. So in this connection I can not but say that there may be another factor at work. That is, by spreading such information, probably what has been attempted is to divert the attention of the international community away from the unilateral bombing of Iraq by the United States and Britain not long ago in circumvention of the United Nations.

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