On the afternoon of October 16, 2002, Director-General He Yafei of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs and Director-General Li Baodong of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences held a briefing at the International Press Center on President Jiang Zemin's upcoming visit to the United States and his attending of the Informal Leaders' Meeting of the APEC in Mexico, and took questions from the press on China-US relations, anti-terrorism, Iraq, APEC agenda and other issues.

He first said that President Jiang's upcoming visit to the US is the third visit between the two heads of state in one year, which shows not only the good personal relations of the two leaders, but also the constant improvement and development of bilateral relations. The Chinese and US both attach great importance to the visit and are making conscientious preparations. It is believed that the visit will further promote the development of China-US constructive cooperative relations. This will not only benefit the two peoples, but also conduce to peace and stability in Asia-Pacific and the world.

On the Taiwan question, he said that the Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive question between China and the US. Ever since China and the US established diplomatic relations, all the administrations of both parties in the US have been committed to the One China policy and abided by the principles in the three China-US joint communiques. The Bush administration has reiterated on many occasions upholding the One China policy, abiding by the three China-US joint communiques, and refraining from supporting the so-called "Taiwan Independence" and encouraging the development of the so-called "Taiwan Independence" forces. However, at the same time, it is true that the military relations between the US and Taiwan have been upgraded, which seriously breaches the three China-US joint communiques and interferes in the internal affairs of China. The Chinese side has made solemn representations to the US government several times. The Chinese side hopes that the US side would abide by the three China-US joint communiques to help the stable and sound development of China-US relations.

He said that China and the US have had very good cooperation in the anti-terrorism field and established a mid-to-long term anti-terrorism exchanges and cooperation mechanism. It is believed that the two heads of state will further exchange views on anti-terrorism cooperation during the summit. The Regulations on Export Control of Missiles and Missile-related Items and Technologies and List promulgated by China in August this year again shows the great importance attached by the Chinese government to the non-proliferation issue and its resolute committment.

He said that the Chinese side holds a positive attitude towards developing relations between the Chinese and US armed forces, and would like to work with the US side to expand exchanges and cooperation between them on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefits and enhancing mutual understanding.

On the Iraqi issue, he said that China has always held that Iraq should comprehensively and strictly implement relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. The Iraqi issue should be solved appropriately through political and diplomatic channels within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions.

Director-General Li Baodong said that President Jiang Zemin will attend the tenth Informal Leaders' Meeting of APEC to be held in Los Cabos of Mexico. Before that, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Minister Shi Guangsheng of MOFTEC (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation) will lead delegations to attend the fourteenth APEC ministerial meeting to be held from October 23 to 24.

This year, the APEC meetings will be held against the backdrop of global economic slowdown, stagnation in the new round of WTO trade negotiations and more challenges in the war against terrorism. The agenda of the meeting will focus on encouraging global and regional economic recovery and growth, promoting the development of the global trade mechanism, and deepening anti-terrorism cooperation.

The Chinese side hopes that the upcoming APEC meetings will enhance the sound development of the multilateral trade mechanism, complete the negotiations of the Doha development agenda in time, adopt concrete measures to implement Shanghai agreement, and further promote global trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. All member economies of APEC should promote economic and technical cooperation, enhance capacity building and deepen anti-terrorism cooperation in fiancial, customs, transportation, communications and other fields so as to ensure trade security of APEC.

Deputy Director-General Zhang Qiyue of the Department of Information Affairs hosted the background briefing. Around 70 journalists attended the briefing.