On the afternoon of October 12, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue presided over a regular press conference.

Zhang: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I am glad to see you again at this conference. First please allow me to make an announcement.

At the invitation of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council of the PRC, Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, will head a DPRK delegation's official and good-will visit to China from October 18 to 20.

Now I'll answer your questions.

Q: What stance does the Chinese government hold on France's supply of equipment parts, components and services to Taiwan's navy and air force? French President Jacques Chirac already met with the Chinese leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, and Zeng Qinghong. Did he meet with Jiang Zemin?

A: As for the first question, the Chinese Government's stance is extremely clear. There is only one China, and Taiwan is a part of the country. We hope all countries that have established diplomatic relations with China can respect this and act according to the basic documents on bilateral ties and the consensus of the leaders of the two sides, and should not send wrong signals to the pro-independence forces in Taiwan, and should not have military exchanges or develop any military relations with Taiwan. This basic stance is clear.

As for the second question, over the past several days, the Chinese leaders have had in-depth and wide-ranging conversations with French President Jacques Chirac, and reached a important consensus on strengthening relations in fields such as politics, economics and culture. During his visit, the two sides signed a series of agreements. We believe that the visit was very successful. As to the specific question you just raised, to my knowledge, Jiang Zemin met with his old friend President Chirac in Shanghai.

Q: What is the current situation of the Chinese engineers kidnapped in Pakistan? What efforts has the Chinese Government made towards obtaining their release? The US welcomed Chen Shuibian's speech on October 10, saying that it is constructive, and urged the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to settle issues through peaceful negotiation. What's your comment on this?

A: As for the first question, as you know, two Chinese engineers, working on the Gomal Zam Hydroelectric project, were kidnapped. Since the kidnapping the Chinese Government, including the Chinese Foreign Ministry and related departments, and Chinese leaders have taken the incident very seriously, and made urgent representations to the Pakistani government. They have expressed China's great concern for the safety of the kidnapped Chinese engineers, and urged the Pakistani Government to take effective measures to secure their release and ensure their safety. Moreover, the Chinese government has requested that the Pakistani government should further strengthen security for Chinese personnel working on Pakistani projects.

For this purpose Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing talked over the phone with the Pakistani Foreign Minister. Actually, over the last few days Foreign Minister Li and other leaders of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and officials of other departments have made all efforts to deal with the incident. They are working almost day and night. The Foreign Ministry has launched an emergency mechanism to ensure contact is available 24 hours a day. Some staff involved haven't even rested or had a square meal, and continue to try their best to rescue the two engineers.

The Pakistani government is also taking the incident very seriously, and their leaders and related personnel have repeatedly stressed that Pakistan and China are friendly countries, and the two Chinese engineers are good brothers of the people of Pakistan. The Pakistani Government has urged related departments to handle the matter and meanwhile strengthen security for Chinese personnel working on other projects in Pakistan. Anyway, the Chinese government is sparing no effort in the rescue. Currently the Pakistani government is negotiating with the abductors.

As for the second question, my colleagues with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office will respond to this. As to the stance of the US officials, I would like to point out that the US must honor its commitments to the one-China policy which has been repeatedly reaffirmed by US leaders and government, to respecting the three Sino-US joint communiques and maintaining a stance against Taiwanese independence. The US should stop any official exchanges, weapon sales and military relations with Taiwan, and should not send any wrong signal to the Taiwanese authorities. Only in this way can we maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and Sino-US relations.

Q: This morning, a spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan remarked that Taiwan has agreed on the Mainland's request for direct charter flights during the Spring Festival, and we also know the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office will hold a press conference tomorrow. What's your comment on this?

A: As you know, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office will hold a press conference tomorrow. I think it would be better to raise the question with the spokesperson of that office.

Q: You just mentioned the Chinese Foreign Ministry is in round the clock contact with the Pakistani government on the kidnapping incident. During this period have the abductors raised specific conditions for releasing the hostages?

A: I have just explained the efforts China has made on this issue. China is maintaining close contact with Pakistan and the Pakistani government is paying great attention to the Chinese governments requests. The Pakistani government is making all possible efforts to rescue the two engineers. Negotiations between the Pakistani government and the abductors are in progess. I'm not at liberty to reveal any further details, and I hope this issue can be resolved as soon as possible.

Q: Would you please give more details about Kim Yong Nam's visit to China and Ambassador Ning Fukui's visit to the Republic of Korea? What expectations and concerns does China have about the US presidential election? Do you think special attention has been paid to the issues that China is concerned about?

A: Everyone has a lot of questions after the long holiday.

With regard to the first question, President Kim Yong Nam is going to pay a formal visit to China, which is a very important part of the celebration of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and DPRK. During his visit, President Kim Yong Nam will meet Chinese leaders and exchange opinions on bilateral ties and the issues of common interest to both sides. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the visit, and is preparing a detailed schedule.

Ambassador Ning Fukui will conduct negotiations with some countries in the near future, which is part of the effort China is making to promote the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula through dialogue. Due to the complicated factors known to all, it is proving quite difficult to convene the fourth round of the six-party talks as planned. The Chinese government, however, still hopes to convene the next round of talks as early as possible. To achieve this goal, the Chinese government has been closely communicating and coordinating with all parties concerned, and has done a lot of work in promoting the talks and peace.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the development of Sino-US relations, and is willing to jointly implement the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders. We hope the US Government can observe the three Sino-US joint communiques and a series of important documents signed between the two countries and properly handle the Taiwan issue, because this is the most important and sensitive issue for bilateral ties. We consider that as long as we handle Sino-US ties from a long-term and strategic perspective, Sino-US constructive and cooperative relations will continue to advance.

Q: Afghanistan held a presidential election last week. What's your comment on the process and results of the election?

A: The Afghanistan presidential election is a very important part of the country's peace process. We have noticed the election basically proceeded smoothly. We hope and believe that with the joint efforts of its people, Afghanistan will eventually attain lasting peace and stability.

Q:The meeting of EU Foreign Ministers failed to reach a consensus on the issue of removing the embargo on selling weapons to China. What's your comment on this? What is the reason for the failure? Is the Chinese government willing to consider changing its behavior or adopting concrete measures to improve human rights? Will the Chinese government reduce the military threat against Taiwan so as to facilitate the EU's removal of the embargo? Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan, expressed an intention to improve relations with China in a speech to the Japanese Congress. If Junichiro Koizumi continues to pay homage to the Yasukuni Shrine, is it possible to improve the relations between China and Japan?

A:We have seen the report on the meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers. We hold that the ban on selling weapons to China is the outcome of the period of the Cold War, which ended 15 years ago. The ban has been outdated for a long time. It both goes against the world trend of peace and development and fails to keep up with the development of relations between China and the EU. Removing this embargo, a relic of the Cold War, is required by the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU.

In the meanwhile, we resolutely object to linking the issue with the so-called China's human rights issue. It is obvious to all that China has made great efforts and achievements in human rights. Since the reform and opening up over 20 years ago, China has made arduous efforts to feed and warm its people. More than 200 million people have been relieved from poverty. No human rights issue is more important than this. Especially since last year, China's government has adopted a series of judicial reforms, further improved the social security system and enhanced the protection of the underprivileged. It can be said that the Chinese people now are enjoying high-level human rights and freedom. China's human rights situation is the best in history, which countries all over the world, including European countries, have to acknowledge. Therefore we hold that there are no grounds to link the issue of human rights with the weapons embargo, which we also resolutely object to. Lifting the weapons embargo is in line with the common interests of China and Europe. We hope that the European side can have a more generous view of the relations between China and the EU and make correct decisions as soon as possible.

As for China's policy concerning the relations with Japan, we have emphasized many times that the Chinese government attaches importance to developing the relations with Japan in various aspects. Japan is an important neighbor of China. It can be said that both the old and new generations of China's national leaders all attach importance to developing friendly relations with Japan. The two countries have laid a good foundation for development. We hope that the Japanese government can "take history as a mirror and look forward into the future". We also hope that the Japanese government can make actual efforts and promote sound and stable development of the relations between the two countries.

Q: What's the comment of the Foreign Ministry on President Putin's upcoming visit to China?

A: President Putin will pay a state visit to China from 14 to 16 October, which is Putin's first visit to China in his second term of office. During the visit, President Hu Jintao and other state leaders will exchange views on a wide range of issues with Putin, and the two sides will sign a joint statement and a series of important documents. The visit is also a part of celebrations of the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. President Hu Jintao and President Putin will both be present at a series of celebrations including an entertainment evening in addition to talks and meetings. We expect that the visit will infuse new vigor into the Sino-Russia strategic partnership.

Q: What's your comment on the claim made by Korean Central News Agency today that DPRK had the right to test missiles?

A: The parties concerned have reached some important consensus on resolving issues related to the Korean Peninsula. Particularly through Six-Party Talks, the interested parties have set a key target of achieving a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, and agreed that issues of common concern will be dealt with through the mechanism of Six-Party Talks. Therefore it can be said that the interested parties have reached important consensus on resolving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, and made efforts to facilitate the resolution of the issue. We hope that the parties can continue to make efforts in this direction and create a favorable climate and environment so as to facilitate the resolution of the issue through talks.

Q: Yesterday when holding a press conference with Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said that "some individual countries" interfered in China's internal affairs on the Taiwan issue and harmed the feelings of the Chinese people. Which countries are these? What do your think about the future of the Six-party Talks before the US presidential election in November? Furthermore, during the presidential candidate debate, John Kerry declared that he would hold bilateral talks with the DPRK. Do you think the declaration will contribute to the progress of the Six-Party Talks or harm to the Talks?

A: You just mentioned Minister Li Zhaoxing's remarks after his talk with Secretary General Annan. I am not quite clear about the background of the talk. However, it is very clear that when developing state-to-state relations countries shall adhere to some basic principles including the UN Charters and the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, the most important of which are actual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

I have just mentioned when the Six-Party Talks will be held. Although the fourth round of the Talks was not held at the end of September as scheduled, the Chinese government still hopes and makes efforts to convene the Talks as soon as possible. We hope that the interested parties will adhere to the spirit of mutual respect and equal consultation and continue to make vigorous efforts to resolve related issues through talks. Only through talks and negotiation can the parties reduce divergence, expand common understanding and establish mutual confidence.

As far as the remarks made by the US presidential candidate in election, I will make no comment since it involves discussion of US foreign polices.

Q: Will the Chinese government discuss issues on the Six-Party Talks with Kim Yong Nam during his visit to China? Will the Chinese government urge the DPRK government to hold the next round of Six-Party Talks as soon as possible via him?

A: During Kim Yong Nam's visit, China's leaders will exchange views with him on all his concerns. I will keep you updated after the visit.

Q: I have three questions. Last week a report said that China implied it believed the DPRK attempted to enrich uranium. I wonder whether or not the Chinese government believes that the DPRK has any enriched uranium program or had made experiments on enriched uranium. It is reported that China has reinforced the PLA deployment on the border between China and the DPRK, can you confirm this. Does the reinforcement aim to prevent a large number of DPRK soldiers from crossing the border into China? It is reported that the chief of the kidnappers who abducted Chinese engineers in Pakistan was imprisoned in the Guantanamo Base. What's your comment on this?

A: I will make no remarks on the issue of enriched uranium, which involves the Six-Party Talks.

As for the second question, I have seen a relevant report. The Chinese frontier troops are assisting with construction of a communication project near the border, and not the purpose suggested in your question.

As for the third question, I can understand your concern about the issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is dealing with the issue via the Pakistani government day and night. We hope that the issue can be properly resolved as soon as possible and safety of the two Chinese engineers can be ensured. I can't give any details as negotiations between the Pakistani government and the kidnappers are still ongoing.

Q: Can you disclose some information about the Koreans who broke into the Canadian Embassy in China?

A: I have nothing new for you. After the incident, the Chinese government is still investigating.

Q: How does China view issues concerning China in the US presidential election? Were the related issues properly dealt with in the election or not?

A: I believe that the US government and people will always attach importance to developing relations with China no matter how the election goes. Because China and the US are two important countries in the world, further developing a friendly and constructive partnership is not only beneficial for the people of China and the US but also of great importance to the peace and development of the whole Asia and the whole world. The Chinese government hopes to develop the relations between the two countries jointly with the US government and steadily push forward the constructive and cooperative relations.

Thanks.