China hopes the new US Congress will play a constructive role in
strengthening Sino-US relations, the Foreign Ministry said
yesterday. Spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the remarks at a regular press
conference after Democrats captured both chambers of the US
Congress in Tuesday's mid-term elections.
Nancy Pelosi, 66, became speaker-elect of the House of
Representatives. In the past, she has criticized China's human
rights record, opposed normal trading relations with China in the
1990s and was against Beijing being awarded the 2008 Olympics.
Developing healthy and stable Sino-US ties is the consensus
reached by both Republicans and Democrats, said Jiang, adding that
"we believe that all people of insight in the US, including
Republicans and Democrats, hold similar views (that good bilateral
ties serve the interests of the two countries)."
Moving to the resignation of US Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, Jiang said China will continue to work with the US to
strengthen military exchanges, increase mutual understanding and
trust, and sensitively handle each other's concerns.
After years of defending his beleaguered secretary of defense,
US President George W. Bush announced Rumsfeld's resignation within
hours of the Democrats' triumph in congressional elections.
The Iraq War was the central issue of Rumsfeld's tenure, and
unhappiness with the war seemed to have been a major element of
voter dissatisfaction on Tuesday.
Bush appointed former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director
Robert Gates as the new defense secretary.
East China Sea
Jiang said that Japan's concern over China's exploration of a
gas field in the East China Sea was "unnecessary."
"The Chinese oil and gas exploitation are legitimate activities
in China's near sea and on its continental shelf," said Jiang.
These comments followed Japanese officials expressing concern on
Wednesday about the operation of the Bajiaoting platform in the
Pinghu oil and gas field in the East China Sea.
New WHO chief
Jiang said the Chinese government congratulates Margaret Chan,
confirmed as new chief of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Chinese government fully supports Margaret Chan as the
director-general of the WHO, Jiang said, noting that governments of
Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions also actively
supported.
The WHO on Thursday formally approved China's Dr. Margaret Chan
as its new chief, to succeed Dr. Lee Jong-wook of South Korea who
died suddenly in May.
Chan, born in Hong Kong, is capable and experienced, which left
the members of the WHO Executive Board deep impression and won her
wide support from WHO member countries, Jiang said.
It is believed that Chan will fully implement her promises and
work together with?all the?members for people's health,
she said.
Chan, 59, is expected to take office in January for a five-year
term. The UN agency has been led by Acting Director-General Dr.
Anders Nordstrom of Sweden since May.
Six-party talks
Jiang said that Chinese and Russian vice foreign ministers met
in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the appropriate handling of the
Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Alexander Alexeyev exchanged views on the North Korean
nuclear issue, said Jiang.
Alexeyev also met US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns
yesterday in Beijing to discuss how to restart disarmament talks
with North Korea.
In other developments, Jiang said China congratulates Panama on
being elected to the UN Security Council and expects further
cooperation with Panama on security issues. China would like to
further enhance cooperation with Panama on international and
regional issues to promote China-Panama relations, Jiang said.
Panama received the approval on Tuesday of the 192-member UN
General Assembly to become a non-permanent member of the Security
Council, following a deadlock between Guatemala and Venezuela.
Responding to a question on the presidential election of
Nicaragua, Jiang said China had noticed the presidential running in
Nicaragua and China respected the choice from Nicaraguan
people.
China is willing to establish and develop normal relations with
certain countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful
coexistence, the UN Charter as well as relevant UN resolutions,
Jiang said.
Daniel Ortega has won Nicaragua's presidential election with
about 38 percent of the votes, according to the country's top
electoral official.
When asked to comment on the Kyrgyz parliament's approval of a
new constitution, Jiang said China is glad to see Kyrgyzstan
solving its existent problems within legal framework.
She said achieving stability in Kyrgyzstan will facilitate the
country's development.
China will further strengthen bilateral relations and seek
closer coordination with Kyrgyzstan within the framework of
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Jiang said.
The Kyrgyz government and opposition hammered out an agreement
on a new Kyrgyz Constitution on Wednesday, and it was later
approved by the Parliament, paving the way for an end to the
country's ongoing political crisis.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the members of the SCO, a regional
organization founded in 2001, which also includes China, Russia,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency November 10,
2006)