At Thursday's regular press conference, Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Liu Jianchao condemned the US and Japan's
interference?in the lifting of the EU's arms embargo.
"We believe that on the question of lifting the arms embargo,
the Chinese side, and especially the EU side, have indeed been
(recipients) of unreasonable and unnecessary disturbances,"?he
said.
"The arrangement between the EU and China to lift the embargo is
not directed against any third country, or aimed at undermining the
interests of any third party. Therefore, to stand in the way is
totally unnecessary and unreasonable,"?he stressed.
France and Germany have been leading calls to end the ban, but
the EU has scrapped its end-of-June target date for ending the
embargo, and did not set any new deadline at a meeting of the
25-nation bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg Monday.
Jean Asselborn, foreign minister of Luxemburg, the rotating EU
presidential country,?admitted on Wednesday that the EU is
under pressure from the US and Japan not to lift the embargo.
But he said he believed the EU and China could find a solution
to the issue.
"We hope the EU will make good their promise and lift the
embargo as soon as possible," Liu said. "This will remove a major
barrier and be beneficial to the furtherance of relations."
Liu hinted that Washington should not make wanton remarks or
interfere with the development of normal relations between China
and other countries.
Two months ago, Washington imposed a series of sanctions on
Israel's defence industry following a weapons deal in which Israel
was reported to have agreed to upgrade a consignment of drones it
had sold to China.
Nearly 18 months ago,
China-Israel relations deteriorated after Israel had
backtracked on a deal to sell the Phalcon advanced airborne radar
system to China.
A deal for a sophisticated surveillance system was aborted in
2001 because of pressure from the US, which was concerned the
aircraft could be used against Taiwan.
Turning to?Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing's upcoming Israel visit, Liu?said that China
attaches importance to ties with the Middle East state. Both sides
should overcome outside disturbance when developing normal
bilateral ties.
Liu said during Li's visit, he would exchange views with the
Israeli side on all issues related to bilateral relations.
He said China values relations with Israel, adding that
development of the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two
countries is in the common interests of the two sides, and
conducive to regional peace and stability.
Li will?visit Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria and Lebanon
from June 17 to 26.
He?will also attend?an international conference on
Iraq held in Brussels June 22 at the invitation of Jean Asselborn
and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
?
Over 80 countries and international organizations have been invited
to attend the conference, which is co-hosted by the EU and the
US.
In reply to a question on whether US Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld will visit China this Autumn, Liu said "China welcomes
officials from the US Department of Defense, including Rumsfeld
himself, to visit, and expects exchanges between the two sides can
facilitate bilateral cooperation in military field, together with
all other fields."
In another development, Liu said the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO)
is willing to make exchanges with non-member countries and other
international organizations.
Such exchanges will be beneficial to increasing mutual
understanding and promoting cooperation, he said.
The issue concerning anti-terrorism will be a major topic during
the SCO summit to be held?in early July in Astana, capital of
Kazakhstan. Liu said this issue, as a major task of the
SCO,?has been?discussed frequently by the organization at
various levels, including state leaders, foreign ministers and
senior officials of the SCO.
The SCO is also faced with another important task of enhancing
economic cooperation, in a bid to promote regional
development,?he said.
"Combating the 'three evil forces'?-- terrorism, extremism
and separatism -- and encouraging economic and trade cooperation
are two important elements driving the development of the SCO," he
said.
The SCO, set up in June 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2005)