On February 20, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhang Qiyue held the regular press conference. Zhang first announced a piece of news.

At the invitation of Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov will pay an official visit to China from February 26 to 28. The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and current major international and regional issues.

Q: As for those that broke into the Japanese school, you said yesterday that China would verify their identity after the Japanese government hands over the relevant materials. What is the latest development of the situation there? How will the verification continue?

A: On February 18, four unidentified people broke into a Japanese primary school in Beijing. China’s public security institutions will verify their identity based on the written materials provided by the Japanese side.

Q: If the four people are found to be North Koreans, will Japan hand them over to China?

A: The identity of the four people still needs verification. As for how to handle them after the identity verification, China has always been addressing the similar issues according to its domestic laws, international law and in the humanitarian spirit.

Q: Will US State Secretary Powell visit Beijing on Sunday and Monday? Which leaders will he meet with? Which topics will be discussed?
A: US State Secretary Powell is due to visit China on February 23 and 24. The two sides will exchange views on wide-ranging issues, including China-US relations and current major international issues. The two sides are still discussing on the specific arrangements of Mr. Powell’s upcoming visit.

Q: It is reported that Mr. Wang Daohan, President of the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits, will visit Singapore at the invitation of the Singapore University. Will he meet with Mr. Gu Zhenfu there?

A: Your question goes beyond my responsibility and you may refer it to the relevant parties.

Q: Mr. Roh Moo-Hyun will take office as the new President of the ROK on 25 this month. What is your comment on that? What is your expectation of the China-ROK relations?

A: Since Mr. Roh Moo-Hyun was elected as the new President of the ROK, the Chinese leaders extended congratulations to him immediately. Vice Premier Qian Qichen will also head to the ROK to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Roh Moo-Hyun from 24 to 26 this month. This also demonstrates the great importance attached by the Chinese government to the development of China-ROK relations. The bilateral ties have been in sound development in recent years. Last year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and the ROK. The past ten years have witnessed the remarkable development of the friendly cooperation between the two countries. We are confident that under the leadership of President Roh Moo-Hyun, the overall friendly cooperation between the two countries will make further development.

Q: During Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov’s stay in China, which Chinese leaders will he meet with?

A: Foreign Minister Ivanov will soon visit Beijing. The itinerary of this visit is still under arrangement. This is an important visit. Foreign Minister Tang will have talks with him and the Chinese leaders will meet with him.

China-Russia relations have been in steady progress in recent years. In particular, in 2001, President Jiang Zemin and President Putin jointly signed the treaty of good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation between China and Russia, which has laid the solid legal foundation for the further development of the bilateral relations. In recent years, the cooperation between the two countries has scored great progress in various fields. The two sides often have close contacts and consultations on major international issues. You may have known that President Jiang Zemin and President Putin exchanged views on the Iraqi issue last night. It is fair to say that the bilateral ties are in sound development.

Q: It is reported that a DPRK fighter plane intruded into the sea of the ROK. What is the comment of the Chinese side? Could you brief us on the actions taken by the Chinese side to solve the DPRK nuclear issue recently?

A: As for the first question, I just read the news from the report and we are still following the relevant information.

As for the second question, I have made clear our stand on many occasions. China stands for a nuclear-free, peaceful and stable peninsular and hopes to settle the disputes through dialogue. In recent months, China has conducted frequent diplomatic activities. At last press conference, I also briefed about the stop-over in Beijing of Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun of the DPRK. During the meeting, both sides expressed hope to peacefully settle the current disputes on the Korean peninsular through dialogue. China will continue its efforts to solve this issue.

Q: The US officials said that State Secretary Powell would visit China, Japan and the ROK to narrow down the differences with them on the DPRK nuclear issue. Could you tell us what those differences are between China and the US on this issue? How, in your view, will the DPRK nuclear issue be settled?

A: State Secretary Powell’s upcoming visit will touch upon the bilateral relations, the DPRK nuclear issue and other major international issues. The two sides will have an in-depth and candid exchange of views. China’s stand on the DPRK nuclear issue is clear-cut. We hope that it can be solved through dialogue. As a matter of fact, the US also indicated its willingness to carry out dialogue with the DPRK on many occasions. On this point, the two sides have no differences. We hope that this issue can be settled through dialogue at an early date. Dialogue constitutes the only and effective solution.

Q: You have just said that China is now verifying the identity of the four people having broken into the Japanese school. However, they are now in the consular department of the Japanese embassy in China. How will China then verify their identity?

A: It is not the first time for China to handle this type of issue with the relevant countries. As for the solution to this issue, China will handle it according to its domestic law and international law and in the humanitarian spirit.

Q: What is the ultimate destination of the Foreign Minister of the DPRK? You have said that both China and the US call for the dialogue. Will it be held within the bilateral or multilateral framework?

A: Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun stopped over in Beijing on February 18 before heading for Malaysia to attend the 13th Conference of the Heads of State and Government of Non-Aligned Movement. He left Beijing for Malaysia in the afternoon of February 18.

In respect of your second question, China hopes to solve the DPRK issue through dialogue. According to my knowledge, the US side also indicated its willingness to hold dialogue with the DPRK side, but within the multilateral framework. The parties concerned share identical views on carrying out the dialogue. It is our hope that this issue will be settled through dialogue and by political means.

Q: What are the similarities and differences between China and the US on the Iraqi issue? Do you believe that these differences can be settled during Powell’s visit to China? The Israeli government launched another attack against the Palestinians causing 14 deaths of Palestinian civilians. The Palestinian side said that the silence of the international community led to this consequence. Could you comment on that?

A: Regarding the first question, I can only brief about China’s stand on the Iraqi issue. China stands for the political settlement of this issue within the UN framework. In the past two days, the UN Security Council held a public debate on this issue. Besides the UN Security Council members, 55 non-Security Council members expressed their views in the public debate. The vast majority of them believed that under the current circumstances, the UN weapons inspection should continue, and the Iraqi issue should be settled by political means.

We are concerned about the current Middle East situation. We hope that Israel will take measures to stop its military actions against Palestine, and that Israel and Palestine will create favorable conditions for an early restoration of peace talks between the two sides. Peace talks serve as the only effective way to solve the conflicts between the two sides.

Q: China and the US held anti-terrorism consultations in Beijing this week. Could you give us more details on that?

A: In accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state on setting up a medium and long-term anti-terrorism mechanism for exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States, the third China-US anti-terrorism consultation and the second consultation of the China-US working group on financial anti-terrorism were held on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19, respectively, in Beijing. Representatives from relevant government agencies of the two countries had an in-depth exchange of views on the current international and regional anti-terrorism situation and on China-US cooperation in fighting terrorism in the financial sector and reached wide-ranging consensus. Both sides stressed that the strengthening of China-US anti-terrorism cooperation is conducive to the advancement of international anti-terrorism activities and of bilateral relations as well. The US side invited the Chinese side to the United States for the fourth round of anti-terrorism consultation in the second half of 2003, and the third round of consultation of the China-US working group on financial anti-terrorism in 2004.