Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the following remarks
at the opening ceremony of the second round of six-party talks
Wednesday morning:?
I wish to hereby declare the opening of the second round of the
Six-Party Talks. As the host, we warmly welcome all the delegations
to Beijing again.
Half a year ago, it was also in this hall that we successfully
launched the process of the Six-Party talks, charting the course
for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue. Since then, the
parties have had uninterrupted dialogues and consultations between
themselves, made a lot of in-depth preparations for a new round,
and through this process, enhanced the understanding of each
other's positions. Now the parties are all ready to discuss
substantive issues and expect to produce concrete results in the
second round.
We agree that the concerns of all the parties need to be
addressed through coordinated steps, and all hope to continue the
peace process initiated by the Six-Party Talks. These form an
important basis for our talks today.
The second round is of great significance as it launches
discussion on substantive issues, marking another new step forward
in the peace process. At this round, the parties will discuses how
to identify the specific objectives in resolving the nuclear issue,
explore measures to be taken in the first phase to resolve the
nuclear issue and study ways to continue the process of the talks.
As the talks go ahead, we will encounter more difficulties and
challenges. But this is exactly where we must fulfill our
historical duty and where the international community has placed
high hopes on us.
We, the six parties, gather here, reflecting the strong
political aspiration for peace of the six governments and peoples.
We come to the talks to expand our common ground rather than to
highlight our differences. We come here to solve rather than to
worsen problems. The Chinese side believes that the parties, all
aware of the responsibilities on their shoulders to seek peace,
will adopt a constructive stance, act in a cooperative and
accommodating spirit, respect each other, display flexibility and
narrow the gap in their positions. China, being a major neighboring
country to the Korean Peninsula, will be firmly supportive of the
goal of securing a nuclear weapon free Peninsula, consistently
advance the process of seeking a peaceful solution to the nuclear
issue, and staunchly safeguard peace and stability on the
Peninsula.
As the host, the Chinese side is willing to do its utmost to
ensure the smooth conduct of the talks. I look forward to
productive cooperation with my colleagues form other countries and
I hope that the other parties will continue to support the Chinese
efforts.
(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2004)