China said Tuesday it would make joint efforts with the US to ensure success of the 18th China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) and the third China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) to be held this December in Beijing.

 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said at a regular press conference that the JCCT and SED are an important platform for the two countries to deepen understanding and promote sound development of economic and trade relations.

 

The SED focuses on the strategic, long-term, and comprehensive issues within economic relations and the JCCT stresses the development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation as well as the discussion on specific issues, Liu said.

 

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi will chair the two meetings and China is willing to make joint efforts to ensure the success of the meetings so as to push ahead China-US economic and trade ties, Liu added.

 

Iran nuclear issue

 

Liu said the Iranian nuclear issue is a key topic that US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates discussed with Chinese state and military leaders during his recently concluded China tour.

 

"The two countries have the same goal on the Iranian nuclear issue. Both believe Iran should not possess nuclear weapons and both advocate safeguarding the international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism," Liu said.

 

China calls on the parties concerned to continue dialogues and consultations including Iran's consultation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the EU, and expects these dialogues to bear fruits, the spokesman added.

 

At the invitation of Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, Gates paid a three-day official visit to China from November 4 to 6.

 

Pakistan situation

 

China is highly concerned about the situation in Pakistan, and believes the country has the ability to solve its own issues, said Liu.

 

"Pakistan is one of the important neighboring countries of China. We believe the Pakistani government and people have the ability to solve their own problems and hope Pakistan could maintain stability and development," Liu said.

 

On November 3, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in the country and issued a provisional constitutional order (PCO), citing the rise in extremist activities, incidents of terrorist attacks, and the abuse of the judiciary in the country.

 

North Korea's nuclear issue

 

The disablement of the nuclear facilities in North Korea was "an encouraging progress." Liu said, adding that the joint document the six parties reached on October 3 has been implemented effectively, and China was satisfied with the progress.

 

"We hope the parties concerned could continue to follow their commitment and consensus, and implement the joint document in a comprehensive and balanced way," Liu said.

 

The US said on Monday that a team of US nuclear experts arrived at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, where North Korea's sole functioning nuclear reactor is situated and began the work of disabling the facilities.

 

North Korea shut down Yongbyon nuclear reactor in July. It agreed to disable all existing nuclear facilities and to provide a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs by the end of this year, according to a joint document released on October 3 when the second phase of the sixth round of six-party talks ended in Beijing.

 

The document said the disabling of the five-megawatt Experimental Reactor, the Reprocessing Plant (Radiochemical Laboratory), and the Nuclear Fuel Rod Fabrication Facility in Yongbyon would be completed by December 31.

 

The six-party talks involve China, North Korea, South Korea, the US, Japan, and Russia.

 

China-Germany ties 

 

China attaches great importance to developing relations with Germany and hopes ties could move forward smoothly, Liu said.

 

Liu's remarks came in response to a question concerning German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama this September.

 

He said some difficulties have emerged in the current bilateral relations and this is due to the meeting between the German leader and the Dalai Lama.

 

"We hope Germany can take concrete measures immediately to remove the serious impact of its erroneous act," Liu said.

 

Myanmar issue

 

China supports the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on playing a constructive role in the Myanmar issue, Liu said in response to a question on whether the Myanmar issue will be discussed at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore later this month.

 

Liu said the Myanmar issue should be fundamentally resolved with the efforts of Myanmar's government and people and China hopes the world community could make a more constructive contribution so as to seek national reconciliation, stability, democracy, and development at an early date.

 

Sudan's reaffirmation to peace agreement

 

China welcomes the recent reaffirmation by the north and south of Sudan to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

 

"China appreciates the north and south for their consideration of national unity and reconciliation to resolve the difference through dialogue and consultation so as to safeguard the hard-earned peaceful result and promote the peace process," said Liu.

 

He said China was happy to see the north and south of Sudan reaffirm their implementation of the CPA and declare to establish a joint committee to ensure mechanisms and timetables to solve the unsettled problems.

 

The CPA, signed in 2005, ended a 21-year civil war between north and south Sudan.

 

Turkey-Iraq border problem

 

China said Tuesday it was concerned about the situation on the border between Turkey and Iraq and hoped the relevant sides would resolve the problem through dialogue and consultation.

 

He said China had noticed that the relevant sides had made some efforts to settle the problem, and China hopes the region would realize peace at an early date.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2007)