Q: Could you brief us on the agenda and topics of President Musharraf’s visit to China?

A: China and Pakistan are close neighbors with friendly relations and cooperation. During his stay in China, President Musharraf will meet with the major state leaders in China. The specific agenda is still under arrangement. The leaders of the two countries will have a comprehensive and in-depth exchange of views on China-Pakistan relations as well as international and regional issues including the Afghan issue.


Q: President Jiang Zemin will leave for Myanmar tomorrow. Could you brief us on his upcoming visit? What agreement will be signed during his visit?

A: China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors. The two peoples enjoy traditional “pawkphaw” friendship. Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar, bilateral relations have been developed in a stable manner. The Chinese government attaches great importance to its traditional good neighborliness and friendly relations with Myanmar. The leaders of the two countries have always maintained the tradition of exchange of visits. President Jiang’s visit to Myanmar is a return visit to Chairman Than Shwe’s China trip in 1996. During the visit, the leaders of the two countries will exchange views mainly on the development of the bilateral relations in the new century and the regional and international issues of common interest.


Q: Russian State Duma Speaker Seleznyov is now visiting China. What is your comment on that?

A: Mr. Seleznyov is now on his trip in China. During his meeting with NPC Chairman Li Peng, Chairman Li highly appraised the development of China-Russia relations. He stressed in particular that in recent years the strategic partnership between China and Russia has been further developed and consolidated. The bilateral relations have made a qualitative breakthrough. The two countries has maintain a frequent exchange of high-level visits. In particular, President Jiang and President Putin signed the China-Russia Good-neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, which legalizes the consensus of friendship from generation to generation between our two countries, and lays a political and legal foundation for the development of bilateral relations in the new century. At present, the visit by Mr. Seleznyov is still going on, and the full coverage on this visit by the Chinese Media will come up later.


Q: On December 10, the emergency foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was held in Doha. What is your comment on that?

A: In recent days, the conflicts between Israel and Palestine have escalated, and the Middle East situation deteriorated. The emergency foreign ministerial meeting of the OIC indicated the concern and worry of the vast Islamic countries on the Middle East situation as well as their keen aspiration to realize regional peace and stability. It is our hope that this conference will have a positive impact over the relaxation of the tension there.


Q: When will the Chinese side dispatch diplomats to Afghanistan? What role will China play in the peace-keeping operations there?

A: China and Afghanistan have maintained diplomatic ties over the years. In 1993 China temporarily withdrew its diplomatic officials from Afghanistan for security reasons. Now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively considering promptly resuming the work of its embassy there. The ministry will send a working team to Kabul to see the premises and contact various parties there. This working team will be headed by Mr. Zhang Min, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As for your second question, China is in favor of acting in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions. The peace-keeping operation should obtain the authorization of the UN Security Council in advance, the approval of the Afghan people, and conduce to the restoration of peace and stability of Afghanistan. China has no practice of sending troops to the multi-national forces and will contribute to the maintenance of peace of Afghanistan in its own way.


Q: The new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka has been elected. What is your comment on that? Has Premier Zhu Rongji sent a letter of congratulation to him?

A: We extend our congratulations to Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe on his election as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Premier Zhu Rongji has sent a letter of congratulation to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. As a good friend of Sri Lanka, we sincerely hope that it will maintain peace, stability and development. It is our belief that during his tenure as the Prime Minister, China-Sri Lanka relations based upon the five principles of peaceful coexistence will be further consolidated and developed.


Q: On December 7, the US Senate approved the budget of fiscal year 2002, among which, 318 billion dollars will be spent on national defense and over 7 billion dollars on the development of NMD. There are always objections within the US when China approves its own budget for national defense. What is your comment on the US budget for national defense?

A: We maintain that the international community should form a new type of security concept with mutual trust, reciprocity, equality and coordination as the core. It is our hope that all countries should work together to establish a peaceful international environment of a long-term stability, security, and reliability in accordance with the new type of security concept.


Q: China will officially accede to the WTO today. Why are there no celebration activities on such an important day? What major tasks is China currently facing?

A: Starting from today, China has officially become a member of the WTO. The People’s Daily has issued an editorial on this topic. The accession to the WTO of China is inevitable as an outcome of China’s reform and opening up, as well as the modernization drive. On one aspect, it provides China with the opportunities for further reform. On the other aspect, it also poses challenges to our economy. China will continue to further implement its relevant obligations of WTO while enjoying its rights as a formal member of WTO, according to the relevant regulations of WTO. At present, the top priority for China is to seize the opportunity and deal with the challenge.