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China has expressed its dissatisfaction with US restrictions on Chinese textile imports and dumping duties on its color television imports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing Thursday.
He said the move came at a time when the US government and its leaders had repeatedly expressed their wish to discuss trade issues with China.
China considered some trade friction normal given Sino-US trade ties were developing so rapidly.
"China hopes the trade issue can be handled properly through dialogue and consultation on an equal footing. Any unilateral actions are not constructive and will not help resolve the disputes,'' said Liu.
According to the spokesman, a joint workgroup from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education has left for Moscow to deal with repercussions of a fatal fire accident.
Seven Chinese students are confirmed killed in the deadly fire at a Moscow university, 43 were undergoing medical treatment and six were missing, Liu said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education have provided assistance for the students' relatives to go to Moscow, said Liu.
Liu said currently four relatives have obtained visas and another 18 relatives were applying.
After the accident, the Russian Embassy in Beijing expressed its willingness to issue visas for the students' relatives as soon as possible.
According to the latest information from Russia, 37 students died and nearly 200 were injured in the fire that broke out early Monday at the Moscow Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University.
Also at yesterday’s regular news briefing, Liu announced China's special envoy to the Middle East Wang Shijie will attend an international Geneva Initiative conference on the Palestine-Israel issue in Geneva on December 1.
Liu said the Geneva Initiative is a good attempt to achieve peace in the Middle East.
"China welcomes such an initiative and will continue to push forward the just and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East issue at an early date together with the international community,'' he said.
Wang's upcoming trip follows his visit to the Middle East in late October as part of China's diplomatic efforts to push forward the peace process in the region.
Meanwhile, China plans to host a United Nations' Asian Meeting on the Question of Palestine from December 16 to 18 in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Responding to a question about Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's meeting with India's new ambassador to China Nalin Surie, Liu said bilateral relations between the two countries are developing soundly.
Liu told reporters that both Li and Surie held that the two countries should view their relationship from an international perspective because Sino-Indian relations are not only very important to the peace of South Asia but also to the stability of the world.
Liu also said China welcomes the Kashmir ceasefire announcement by India and Pakistan and hopes the momentum will continue to build and disputes between the two sides can be resolved peacefully.
Turing to the visit by Japanese diplomat Mitoji Yabunaka, Liu revealed that Yabunaka held discussions with Fu Ying, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting was an important part of the preparatory work for the next round of six-party talks on the nuclear stand-off on the Korean Peninsula.
The spokesman also commented on the 16th round of human rights talks between China and the European Union (EU), which started Thursday. Liu gave no details of the content of the talks, but said they would enhance understanding between China and the EU in the field of human rights.
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it knew nothing about a US case against a Chinese-born US resident once convicted by Beijing of spying for Taiwan, who this week pleaded guilty to illegally selling US technology to the mainland.
"This is a new situation," Liu said. "The Foreign Ministry does not know at all about the relevant circumstances."
He repeated China's assertion that Gao Zhan, a US-based Chinese sociologist, had returned to the Chinese mainland many times to spy for Taiwan.
Beijing sentenced her to 10 years in prison in July 2001. But two days later, on the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, China granted her release on the grounds she was in poor health and expelled her to the United States.
On Wednesday, Gao pleaded guilty in a US district court to one count of unlawfully exporting a controlled item and one count of filing a false tax return.
The items at issue are Military Intel 486 DX2 Microprocessors that have multiple uses, including in missiles to perform identification and discrimination functions.
They can also be used on aircraft in digital flight control and weapons fire-control systems. Gao acquired the microprocessors from a Massachusetts electronics supplier and shipped them to Nanjing SunSea Industry Corp in Nanjing in October 2000.
(Sources including China Daily and Xinhua News Agency, November 28, 2003)
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