Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing reaffirmed in Beijing yesterday that China will not use nuclear weapons first at any time or under any conditions.

China has consistently observed this commitment since its first nuclear test in 1964 and such a stance "will not be changed in the future," he told academics from China, the US and Japan at an informal symposium on relations between the three countries.

Referring to last week's remarks by Zhu Chenghu, a dean at China's National Defense University, Li said they had not represented the stance of the government, but only his own personal viewpoint.

Li also reaffirmed the government's stance on the Taiwan issue, stressing its adherence to the principle of "peaceful reunification, and one country, two systems" to resolve the situation.

China, however, will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China by any means, he said.

The international symposium was sponsored by Peking University and the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2005)