On 21 May, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan announced the coming visits to China by the Prime Minister of the Fiji Islands, Foreign Minister of Peru and Foreign Minister of Slovenia.

Kong Quan said, I would also like to call your attention that on 20 May, the Democratic Republic of East Timor was formally founded and President Jiang Zenmin of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Li Peng of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council have sent congratulatory telegraphs respectively.  On the same day, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan who was attending the independent ceremony signed with his counterpart the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and East Timor, thus China became the first to establish diplomatic relations with it.  Besides, as far as I know, there are two other “firsts”: 1, the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and East Timor is the first document of this kind ratified by the Government of East Timor; second, the “Agreement on Economic and Technological Cooperation between China and the Democratic Republic of East Timor” signed by Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and his counterpart is the first document on economic and technological cooperation between East Timor and other country.

Now the floor is open.

Q:  Where are the 5 people trying to breaking into the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang and how about their condition?

A:  They are now in Shenyang.  The Chinese police department is verifying their identity among other things. They are now in good condition.


Q:  Have China and Japan conducted further consultation concerning the Consulate incident?  Is there any progress?  It is reported that the US senators have raised a bill demanding China’s release of the 5 intruders.  What is China’s view about this?

A:  The Chinese side has no consultation with Japan at the moment.  The Chinese side has reiterated that the handling of it falls into China’s sovereignty.  As to the bill you mention, we are against it because the handling of relevant people falls exclusively into China’s sovereignty, other country has no right to interfere.


Q:  Besides the handling of those people, has Japan requested to consult on the “violation of consular sovereignty”?  Is there any development?

A:  As to the consulate incident, the Chinese side has clearly explained the whole process to the Japanese side and the public.  The fact is very clear now.  We call on the Japanese side to face the objective fact and stop accusing China and raising unreasonable request.  China will handle relevant people in its own way according to law after the verification is finished.


Q:  Recently the Japanese Government has repeated that the most important thing is to solve the question in humanitarian spirit.  What is China’s comment?

A:  From the very beginning, the Chinese side has repeated clearly that China will handle the 5 people according to the international law, domestic law and in humanitarian spirit.  At present, the Japanese side should respect China’s investigation result based on fact.


Q:  You have repeated that China is still verifying the identity of the 5 people.  But many news media have confirmed they are North Koreans and even listed their names.  I would like to know why it has taken so long to verify their identity?  If they are confirmed to be North Koreans, will China send them back to North Korea?

A:  As far as I know, the Chinese side is still verifying their identity among other things.  I have no further information.


Q:  The tension in the border area between India and Pakistan has been escalated, what is China’s comment?

A:  As close neighbor and friend of India and Pakistan, China shows concern over the rising India-Pakistan tension.  We sincerely hope that the two sides could take the peace and stability of the region as the priority, exercise restraint and solve the dispute peacefully through negotiation and dialog, which is in the interests of both India and Pakistan and other South Asian countries as well.


Q:  What kind of diplomatic means will China take to ease the India-Pakistan tension?  Will China send special envoy to the two countries?

A:  I have explained China’s principled position on the current India-Pakistan relations.  As close neighbor and friend of India and Pakistan, We sincerely hope that the two sides could take the peace and stability of the region as the priority, exercise restraint and solve the dispute peacefully through negotiation and dialog.  We have also expressed this position to India and Pakistan during the contact with them.


Q:  There is a girl among the 5 people trying to break into the consulate, is she in prison, a hotel, or other places like orphanage?

A:  From the information I got, the Chinese side has not taken any legal measures against her.


Q:  It is reported that the United States has decided to suspend large-sized arms sale to Taiwan, has China heard of such news?  What’s China’s position?

A:  I have not read about such a report personally.  But I would like to reiterate the principled position of the Chinese Government on this question.  The Chinese Government has been all along strongly against the sale of arms and equipment by the US Government to Taiwan.  We have kept urging the US Government to fully recognize the great danger of the question and earnestly honor its commitments enshrined in the three Sino-US joint communiqués, the “8.17” communiqué in particular, so as to avoid intensifying the situation across the Taiwan Straits and harming China-US relations.


Q:  The Prime Minister of Australia is visiting China now, could you tell us some more details?

A:  At the invitation of Premier Zhu Rongji, Australian Prime Minister John Howard will begin his working visit to China today.  This is an important high-level visit at a time of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Australia.  The bilateral relations have been growing steadily during the past three decades.  During the visit, the Prime Minister and Chinese leaders will exchange in-depth views on further enhancing the exchanges and cooperation in all fields, especially in political, economic and trade, science and technology, cultural and others.  They will also touch upon regional and international issues of common interest.  China stands ready to seize this opportunity of the 30th anniversary and work together with Australia to enhance dialog, expand common understanding and deepen cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit and seeking common ground while shelving differences, with a view to promoting the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries in the new century.


Q:  US Vice President Dick Cheney met with Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao early this month during which he pleasantly accepted the invitation to visit China, I wonder if China and the US have begun discussing the timing of his visit?  And this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, will the consulate incident affect the China-Japan relations?  China said it would handle the question according to international law, domestic law and in humanitarian spirit.  Will China take into consideration the 30th anniversary while handling the incident?

A:  I have no information on the first question.  As to the second one, China and Japan are important neighbors. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and China has always attached great importance to the development of the good-neighborly and friendly relations with Japan.  We are of the view that the Japanese side should keep calm and face the reality in handling some unexpected incident. We hope that the Japanese side could adopt such an attitude in handling the consulate incident.


Q:  Does the current situation mean that the 5 people have become hostages and China will release them if Japan accept China’s investigation result and apologize, otherwise China will keep them under detention?

A:  They are two different questions. First, China has released the investigation result after repeated verification, we hope that the Japanese side could face the result squarely.  In fact, the Japanese side should be held responsible for the current situation.  There are indeed some forces attempting to create trouble in Sino-Japan relations.  We hope Japan could respect the fact and deal with the question in a calm and prudent manner to prevent it from becoming an obstacle in bilateral relations.  As to the handling of the 5 people, we have repeated that China will handle the 5 people according to international law, domestic law and in humanitarian spirit


Q:  China has used the word“economic immigrant” instead of “political refugee” in referring the North Koreans entering China illegally.  The consulate incident has put China in an embarrassing situation and caused tension between China, Japan and South Korea.  Is China reviewing its policy toward North Korea to solve this question?

A:  China’s attitude in handling relevant questions has been clear-cut from the beginning.  First, the Chinese Government has the responsibility and obligation to protect the safety of foreign embassies and consulates and the employees in China, in accordance with the “Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations” and “Vienna Convention on Consular Relations”.  China will take further step to this end.  Second, there are people trying to use such incident to create trouble to challenge the Chinese law and the resolution of the Chinese Government to protect the safety of foreign diplomatic missions so as to undermine the social stability of China.  We strongly condemn and oppose such action.  People violating the Chinese law in China will be punished by the Chinese law.


Q:  You have said that China would handle the 5 people according to international law, domestic law and in humanitarian spirit, can you explain that if they are North Koreans, how will China handle them according to its domestic law and international law respectively?

A:  We are now verifying their identity among other things, so I can hardly reply.  But I would like to repeat that China will handle the 5 people according to international law, domestic law and in humanitarian spirit after verification is finished.


Q:  If they are North Koreans, how will China deal with them?  And what if they are not?

A:  It is too early to draw any conclusion before verification is finished.


Q:  Could you estimate how long it will take to finish the verification?

A:  It takes time because they have no certificate or ID card.  As to how long it will take, I cannot and I am not in a position to answer.


Q:  It is reported that a committee of the US senate will hold a hearing on “North Korean refugees” and China’s handling over the incident, how does China comment on the increasing concern of the international community over this question?  Will China’s handling of such incident in March set precedence for the future incident?

A:  We have kept repeating that how to handle the 5 people falls into China’s sovereignty and other country has no right to interfere.  As to the second question, China will deal with such incident according to international law, domestic law and in humanitarian spirit.


Q:  A couple and their daughter were taken away in front of the Chili Embassy by Chinese police 4 weeks ago when they planned to break into the Embassy of South Korea.  The woman was 9-month pregnant.  What is their condition now?

A:  I have never heard of such a thing.