Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said in Beijing Wednesday that the authority of the United Nations (UN) and its security council should be consolidated.

The two heads of government made the remarks in a joint communique issued after the eighth regular meeting of the Chinese and Russian prime ministers, which ended here Wednesday.

The two sides reiterated their wishes to further strengthen the partnership in international affairs, in an effort to build an international order based on justice and democracy, strict adherence to the principles of international rules and the aim and principles of the UN Charter, common security, equal sovereignty and mutual respect.

China and Russia will continue to promote active cooperation in various fields and improve the efficiency of the existing multilateral cooperative mechanisms, the communique said.

The two sides pledged to cement cooperation to safeguard world peace and safety and prevent and solve international disputes in a peaceful way.

China and Russia support the consolidation of the authority of the United Nations and its security council, the two heads of government said, emphasizing that disputes and crises should be resolved through political and diplomatic means.

The two sides reiterated that the two countries will carry out earnest cooperation in areas such as fighting against terrorism, extremist and separatist activities and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The two sides agreed to strengthen the anti-terrorism efforts made by the UN Security Council. The terrorist elements of "East Turkistan" and those in Chechnya are part of international terrorism, and China and Russia will increase coordination and cooperation in cracking down on them, according to the communique.

The two heads of government stood for safeguarding peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and held that the nuclear issue of the peninsula should be solved through peaceful dialogue, according to the communique.

They also agreed that efforts should be made to resume the stability and state sovereignty of Iraq.

Meanwhile, China and Russia will continue their efforts in pushing forward the Middle East peace process, calling for joint international efforts to resume peace, security and stability in the region at an early date, the two leaders said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2003)