On May 20 2003, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhang Qiyue held the regular Press Conference. Zhang: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I shall begin with two announcements.

At the invitations of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of the Russian Federation, President Jacques Chirac of the Republic of France, President Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan and President Nachagyn Bagabandy of Mongolia, President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China will pay state visits to the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Mongolia from May 26th to June 5th 2003. During his tour, he will also attend the third Summit Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in Moscow, the celebrations of the tri-centennial anniversary of the establishment of the city of St. Petersburg and the leaders’ informal dialogue meeting between the North and the South to be held at Evian, France. During the multilateral events, President Hu Jintao will also meet with leaders from some other countries.

This is the very first overseas visit of the Chinese President since China’s new central leadership took office. During his visits, President Hu Jintao will have extensive contact with foreign leaders and figures from all circles, exchange views with them on bilateral relations and major international issues of common interest and sign a series of important documents of cooperation. President Hu Jintao’s visits will further enhance the friendly relationship between China and the relevant countries and will promote regional and international cooperation.

At the invitation of Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Vice President Nimatullah Shahrani of the Islamic Interim Government of Afghanistan will pay a visit to China from May 26th to 30th.

With that, I'm happy to take your questions.

Q: Can you please tell us, has SARS affected Chinese athletes' participation in international competitions abroad?

A: According to what I know, except for the games cancelled or postponed by international sports organizations, athletes from China have unaffectedly attended formal international matches, for instance, the 47th Pingpang Championship in France. Certainly there are some countries taking some measures to prevent the invasion of SARS. For example, athletes from the affected areas are required to be quarantined for several days, which we find understandable.

The matches and training of China's athletes have been somewhat affected since the outbreak of SARS. In order to ensure health of the athletes and control the epidemic, we have suspended participation of some informal international matches whose main purpose is training. But our athletes are attending the formal international matches as scheduled.

Q: Will President Hu Jintao attend the meetings of G-8 during the informal leaders' dialogue meeting between the South and North?

A: The leaders' dialogue meeting between G-8 members and some developing countries will be held at the initiative of French President Chirac. It's a meeting outside of the G-8 meetings and one that President Hu Jintao will attend. We believe that the initiative is a helpful try for leaders of both South and North to exchange views on issues of current economy and development. We attach great importance to dialogue of the kind, hoping to have extensive exchanges of views with state leaders on major international economic and development issues.

Q: Whom will President Hu meet with during his participation of the leaders' informal dialogue meeting between the South and North? What proposals will China bring up during the meeting? What are the expectations of China for the meeting? Does China's attendance indicate any readjustment of China's position on not to be part of G-8?

A: With respect to any bilateral meetings during President Hu's participation in the South and North leaders' informal dialogue meeting, my answer is affirmative. Except for meetings with leaders from the developed countries, President Hu will also meet and exchange views with those from the developing ones. Relevant bilateral meetings are under arrangement at the moment.

The leaders' informal dialogue meeting will focus its discussions on development, including the global economic growth, the impact of globalization on various countries and possibly sustainable development. These are pressing tasks confronted by countries at the moment. We hope that leaders of both South and North can have candid dialogue on major issues of international development and economic issues in an open, pragmatic and equal spirit as well as further promote international development cooperation so as to contribute to the world economic recovery and healthy development.

I don’t believe President Hu’s attendance of the informal dialogue meeting indicate any change of China’s position of not joining the G-8. What President Hu will attend is the informal dialogue meeting between the South and North. China believes that it’s important to have contact and exchange views with G-8 members on major international development and economic issues. But it’s very clear that China remains to be a developing country.
     
Q: Sources say that China and ASEAN countries will hold an entry-exit quarantine management conference on SARS from June 1st to 2nd. Can you brief us on that?

A: Premier Wen Jiabao put forth a series of practical and feasible proposals in attending the China-ASEAN Special Summit. One of them is to hold a meeting on quarantine management of entries and exits. After consultation with relevant parties, it's decided to hold the meeting in Beijing on June 1st and 2nd. High-level delegates in charge of health and quarantine from the ten countries of ASEAN, officials and experts of WHO will be invited to attend.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the meeting. According to my knowledge, Vice Premier Wu Yi will attend the meeting. The State Bureau of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine will host the meeting. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Health, Railway and Communications, General Administration of Aviation, General Administration of Customs and National Tourism Administration will also attend the meeting. Besides, delegates from Hongkong and Macau will participate as part of the Chinese delegation.

During the meeting, delegates will exchange views on the prevention and treatment of the contagious virus and the experiences of ensuring the safety of personnel exchanges as well as study the way to promote the safety-ensured development of trade and tourism in the region. The main purpose of the meeting is to discuss how to enhance cooperation to prevent the spread of SARS so as to bring the cooperation between China and ASEAN to a new level.

Q: It's reported that there've been many suggestions recently for the continuation of Beijing talks on the Korean nuclear issues. What's China's position on the tripartite meeting on nuclear issue and the participation of ROK, Japan and Russia in the multi-lateral meetings? When will the talks be resumed? China has broad contacts with DPRK, how did DPRK respond to the resumption of talks?

A: China's position on the nuclear issue is clear to all. China has always advocated for a peaceful and stable Korean Peninsula, and the nuclear question be settled through dialogue. Beijing talks were held in April, to which various parties have given positive evaluation, regarding it as helpful. We believe that Beijing talks should be a continuing process. The talks haven't come by easily and should sustain. Various parties are having frequent contact and consultation on the settlement of the Korean nuclear question through further dialogue.

With respect to which countries should attend the next round of talks, I've briefed you on China's position. We have always held that the most important thing is to solve the nuclear question through dialogue. We are flexible as to the mechanism and the scope of the talks. With regard to when next round of talks should be held, a consensus among various parties is that the question should be solved through dialogue. We hope that the Beijing talks can continue and be resumed at an early date so as to solve the current question through dialogue. To that end, we are having contact with various parties including DPRK.

Q: Will President Hu meet with US President Bush during his visit to Russia and the meeting at Evian?

A: During his visits, President Hu Jintao will attend multi-lateral conferences and activities, during which he will also have bilateral meetings with leaders from some other countries. It's been initially agreed by China and the US to hold a bilateral meeting, but the specific time and place are yet to be worked out.

Q: We heard that President Hu Jintao will meet with Prime Minister Koizumi in St. Petersburg. Can you confirm that? What will be discussed then?

A: With respect to the meetings between the leaders of China and Japan, the Japanese side has expressed their willingness on many occasions to have the meetings of the kind. When they met with Chinese leaders yesterday, Secretary-Generals of the three ruling parties of Japan forwarded the letter written by Prime Minister Koizumi himself to President Hu Jintao. In the letter, Prime Minister Koizumi made it clear that he attached great importance to the furthering of bilateral ties between Japan and China and was looking forward to meeting with President Hu Jintao in St. Petersburg. It's safe to say that China has always attached importance to the high-level meetings between the two countries. We also hope to promote steady development of the bilateral ties through direct contact between leaders of the two countries.
   
Q: How does China comment on the new draft resolution of UN to lift sanctions on Iraq?

A: Members of UN Security Council are having consultations on the new resolution of Iraq. According to my understanding, positive progress has been made out of it. We hope that relevant parties can actively participate the discussions and consultations in a constructive manner and reach agreement on the matter at an early date so that the reconstruction of Iraq can start very soon.

Q: According to the recent SARS figures China has released, obviously there have been fewer cases. Some international organizations including the WHO worry about the authenticity of these figures. How does China react to this? When does China hope the WHO to lift its travel advise against China?

A: I understand that you must have been very busy these days, attending various press conferences on SARS. No matter on the press conferences held by the Ministry of Health, by the Beijing Municipality or by the Information Office of the State Council, officials in charge have given very objective and comprehensive briefing of the current situation of SARS and the measures China is taking.
     　　
SARS is an abrupt disaster and new subject to study for every member of the international community. The Chinese Government has attached great importance to the issue, taking it as the top priority at the moment, and taken a series of comprehensive measures to ensure that health and safety of the Chinese people come at first. As everybody can see, these measures have obtained very visible results.

The Chinese Government has stressed on many occasions that any fault, hiding or omission of the figures will be held responsible in accordance with law. Officials of the WHO are satisfied with the active steps taken by China. The standards China has adopted in evaluating the situation are defined after extensive exchanges of views with the WHO. The figures released by China are reliable no matter in terms of standards or of the figures themselves. No one should have any suspicion about that.

With respect to the lifting of WHO’s travel advise, the most important thing is that we must do a good job to control the epidemic. China is working all out on it. We hope that with the joint efforts of the people and the vigorous assistance of the international community, we will defeat the virus and win the battle against SARS.