On the afternoon of 4 December, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao held the regular press conference.

Liu Jianchao: Good afternoon everybody.  Now the floor is open.

Q: A couple of questions about Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the US. First question, Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong said on a news briefing of the visit that Vice Minister of Commerce will be in the entourage. Would you tell us if there is somebody from the Taiwan Affairs Office or the PLA? Is there anybody from the Foreign Ministry? Second question, Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong also said that Premier Wen will visit New York, Washington and Boston. Can you give us some detailed information? Who he will meet with? Last question, besides President Bush, what other American officials will he meet with?

A: These are all very detailed questions. About the first question, in the entourage of Premier Wen's visit to the US are Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Vice Foreign Minister in charge of US Affairs Zhou Wenzhong, Minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission Ma Kai and Vice Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong. As far as I am concerned, there is nobody from the Taiwan Affairs Office or the PLA in the entourage.
Just like you said, Premier Wen Jiabao will pay visits to New York, Washington and Boston. In New York, he will meet with Governor of New Jersey State, mayor of New York City and people from other communities. The tour also includes some visits, including the visit to the Ground Zero. He will also meet with UN Secretary-General Mr. Annan. In Washington, he will hold an official meeting with President Bush and meet with leaders of the US Congress. In Boston, Premier Wen will give a speech at Harvard University and meet with local people in charge.
About the third question, besides his meeting with President Bush, Premier Wen will also meet with other leaders and senior officials of the US Government.

Q: Is the question of China-US trade frictions on the top of Premier Wen's agenda of his visit to America? Does China intend to solve the trade frictions during the visit?

A: China's position on the China-US trade disputes is very clear, namely the disputes should be settled through bilateral negotiation on an equal footing and the two sides should adopt an active and pragmatic attitude to narrow the differences. There are many topics to discuss about during Premier Wen's visit, and the bilateral trade will be one of them. The exchange of views on trade and economic cooperation by the two leaders is conducive to the settlement of the problems in the development of China-US trade and economic relationship, and is conducive to pushing forward the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Q: There have been a lot of reports about the preparation of the second round of six-party talks, and there are different versions. Can you introduce to us the development of the preparation for the next round of six-party talks?

A: I've noticed that there are some guesses about the talks. This somehow shows the concern of the international community about the development of the six-party talks.
For some time, the Chinese side has been holding consultations with parties concerned about the preparation of the second round of six-party talks. The main consideration is to make political preparation for the smooth convocation of the talks. The focus is to confirm the consensuses reached by the parties concerned up to now and create conditions for a fruitful second round of talks. At the same time, the Chinese side is also consulting with the parties concerned about the direction of the next round of talks.
At present there are some common points in the positions of the six parties. All the six parties hope the preparation can go on smoothly and the talks will yield fruits. The Chinese side has sped up the mediation, and believes that we will get the understanding, support and cooperation of the parties concerned and the international community.

Q: Do you think it possible that the second round of six-party talks will be held within the year, or like officials of some countries have suggested it has been postponed till next year? If it is postponed, what do you think are the sticking points?

A: For the time being it is the consensus of the six parties that the next round of six-party talks should be held as early as possible, and all the parties concerned are making efforts to this end. As to when it will be held, it depends on the situation. At present the date hasn't been fixed yet.

Q: Yesterday the Chinese Government published the White Paper on China's Non-Proliferation Policy and Measures. I want to ask two related questions. What's China's position towards the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) initiated by the US, and will China join the initiative? If so, why and why not? Second question, has China reached any agreement with any country about the end user visit?

A: About your first question, the Chinese side understands the concerns of the PSI participating countries about the proliferation of WMD and their vehicles of delivery. However the international community also has some concerns about the legitimacy, effectiveness and possible consequences of the interception measures of PSI. The PSI participating countries should give it a serious consideration. China has always maintains that the proliferation issue should be handled through diplomatic and political methods within the framework of international laws, and all anti-proliferation measures should contribute to the international and regional peace, security and stability.
About your second question, you can find detailed elaboration in the third part of the White Paper. The Chinese side will take into consideration the proliferation risks of the importing side when exporting relevant items. If the Chinese side finds out that the importing side has misused the items exported by China, the Chinese side will terminate the contract. And at the same time, this will have a negative impact on related trade between the two sides in the future.

Q: Can you illustrate how important Premier Wen's visit to America is?

A: Premier Wen's visit to the US this time is a very important one. It's the first official visit to a country by the Premier of the new generation of leadership. It's also the first visit of Premier Wen Jiabao to US. Meanwhile it takes place at a moment when the international situation is undergoing great changes. The mainstream of Sino-US relations is good. Since the beginning of this year the two sides have had satisfactory cooperation on a series of questions, including trade, non-proliferation and anti-terrorism. Of course there are some problems in the field of trade and economic cooperation between China and the US recently, yet we can't deny the progress we've made in this field because of the problems. Premier Wen's visit will promote China-US mutual understanding and push forward the settlement of relevant problems. The development of Sino-US relations is in conformity of the interests of the two peoples and conducive to the maintenance of world peace and stability. I wish the visit a complete success.

Q: I believe German Chancellor Schroeder's visit to China is very important and fruitful. Yesterday he said if China wants to be the biggest internet market within four years, it must free up the control over internet. What's China's comment on this?

A: The visit of German Chancellor Schroeder to China is coming to an end. The visit is very fruitful. The two sides signed eleven agreements. During the visit, the two leaders spoke highly of the friendly cooperation relations existing between the two countries, and expressed the good will for further deepening the bilateral relations. The visit is conducive to the further strengthening and development of China-Germany relations.
About the so-called China's control over internet users, I want to say that the Chinese people have more and more channels and sources of information with the reform and opening up and China's economic development. Today, we have more than 2,200 newspapers, over 9,000 periodicals, over 310 broadcasting stations and over350 television stations. The more than 170,000 books published each year also enrich people's channels to information.
The internet is developing very fast in China, with 70 million users today. The Chinese Government attaches importance to the positive influence of internet on the national economic development and social progress. Whereas we are not neglecting the unhealthy information on the internet, such as propagation of evil cult, false news, and information involving pornography and violence. This is harmful to the society. Many countries, including China, have realized the severity of the problem and are exploring for rational management methods. The necessary measures taken by the Chinese side will do good to the social development of China and to the Chinese people.

Q: Recently the media reported that Premier Wen's visit to America has a very important mission and is nothing less than the visit paid by former Premier Zhu Rongji a few years ago. What I want to know is if China has fully estimated the difficulties that will come up during the consultation with the US on the Taiwan question and the economic question? If the answer is positive, do you have different plans for those difficulties?

A: I don't want to simply compare the two visits, for they take place at different historical periods. Just like you've said, Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the US this time is a very important visit and has very important missions to accomplish. The visit should both promote the settlement of the disputes between China and the US, and push forward the strengthening and development of Sino-US cooperation in fields of common interest.
As long as the two sides can proceed from the overall picture of Sino-US relations and world peace and stability, and as long as the principles in the three Sino-US joint communiqués are observed, the visit will yield positive results. At present, the Chinese side has already and will continue to make active and adequate preparations for the visit.

Q: The Sino-Japanese Friendship 21 Century Committee is now visiting China. What role do you think this kind of exchange will play for the promotion of Sino-Japanese friendship?

A: The work of the committee has played an active role in deepening the friendship between the peoples of China and Japan and the promotion of mutual understanding. We are glad to see that the new committee was officially founded in July this year. The committee is composed of celebrities from various fields such as politics, economy, academy and the press. And the first members of the two sides are Mr. Zheng Bijian, former standing vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee and Mr. Kobayasi Yotaro, president of Xerox.
The new committee will hold its first meeting from 5 to 7 December in Dalian. The two sides will have in-depth exchanges of views on how to push forward the healthy and stable development of Sino-Japanese relations in the new century. I believe the committee will continue to play an active role in the development of Sino-Japanese relations in the future.

Q: Yesterday China published the White Paper on China's Non-Proliferation Policy and Measures, however at the same time China is considering to buy a plutonium processing facility from Germany and pushing for the lifting of arms embargo imposed by the EU since 1989. It seems to me that China is arming itself and at the same time is pushing forward the disarmament. Don't you think the two aspects contradictory?

A: The two aspects are not contradictory at all.
About the timing of the  publishing of the White Paper on China's Non-Proliferation Policy and Measures, the Chinese side believes it is necessary to introduce to the international community China's non-proliferation policy and measures, and the Paper was published yesterday after long preparation.
In regard to your specific question, I'd like to make some clarification. On the electricity generating facility that can produce plutonium you mentioned, you may have failed to understand what kind of facility it is. It's a MOX producing facility that Germany's Siemens is planning to sell. MOX is a kind of mixed oxide fuel used in nuclear electricity generation. A relevant Chinese company is negotiating with Siemens about the procurement of the MOX producing facility. This will be totally for civil use, rather than military purpose.
We believe that the ban of arms sale to China imposed by EU is the result of the Cold War, and is not commensurate to the China-EU all-round partnership. We hope the European side can settle this question as early as possible so as to clear up the way for the comprehensive development of the bilateral relations. This has nothing to do with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and is normal exchange of the two sides in the field of arms sale.

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