On 12 September, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan held the regular press conference.

Kong Quan said, good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.  First of all, I have three pieces of news to announce.

The first one is that in the early morning of 12 September， the General Committee of the 57th Session of the United Nations General Assembly rejected the proposal by Gambia and a few other countries, which called for the inclusion of the so-called question of Taiwan’s “participation” in the UN in the agenda of the current session.  The Taiwan Authorities, for the tenth time, failed in the attempt to create “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan” in the UN.  This fully reflects the firm determination of the vast majority of the UN members to abide by the UN Charter and adhere to the One China principle.  It also demonstrates that the separatist activities by the Taiwan Authorities are against the popular will and are doomed to failure.

There is only one China in the world.  Both the Mainland and Taiwan belong to one China and its sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division.  We want to solemnly warn the separatist forces of Taiwan not to misjudge the situation and urge them to immediately stop all separatist activities.  We also ask the handful of countries to earnestly abide by the UN Charter and stop activities that undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The second is that on 11 September, the United Nations Security Council formally added the “East Turkistan Islamic Movement”(“ETIM”) to the UN list of terrorist groups and individuals.  Earlier, China, the US, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan made the request to the UNSC and submitted relevant materials.  This is a positive achievement in anti-terrorism cooperation between China and the US and other relevant countries.

The “ETIM” is part and parcel of the international terrorist forces and has carried out a large number of violent terror incidents both inside and outside China.  It is a severe threat to regional peace and stability.  The Chinese side will continue to intensify cooperation with the international community to fight against terrorism in all forms including the East Turkistan terrorist organization.  

The third piece of news is that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing attended the commemorative ceremony held by the US Ambassador to China Mr. Clark T. Randt for the first anniversary of the September 11 incident in his official residence in Beijing yesterday evening.  In his address, Vice Foreign Minister Li said that the Chinese Government and people would like to express, together with the US Government and people, deep mourning for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack and sincere condolences and sympathy for their relatives.  We once again strongly condemn this brutal terrorist activity.  

Mr. Li pointed out that both China and the US are the victims of terrorism.  Just as Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in his phone conversation with US President Bush, in the fight against terrorism the Chinese people stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the American people and all the justice upholding and peace loving people in the world.  During the past year, China and the US have had fruitful cooperation in counter terrorism, and this has been an important part of the constructive relations and cooperation between the two countries.  Yet we still have a long way to go in this arduous task. China is ready to intensify cooperation and support each other with the US, the UN and the international community to combat terrorism in all forms and ensure that the elderly, women, children and all our people will live in peace and security forever.  

Q: What terror activities did the “East Turkistan” terrorist group you have just mentioned carry out inside China?

A: You have raised a very important question.  To our knowledge, the “ETIM”, also known as the “East Turkistan Islamic Party Allah” and the “East Turkistan Islamic Party” is one of the most dangerous groups of the “East Turkistan” terrorist forces.  Its aim is to split China by terrorist activities and establish a so-called “Islamic State of East Turkistan” under temporal and religious administration in Xinjiang, China.  This group has established bases outside China to train terrorists, and incessantly dispatched members to China to plot, command and carry out terrorist sabotage, including the huge warehouse explosion in Urumqi in May 1998 and the blast in Hetian city, Xinjiang, in March 1999.  According to the incomplete statistics of the Chinese police, the terrorist activities such as explosions and assassinations plotted and carried out by the group has claimed 166 deaths and over 440 injuries.  The Chinese police have been cracking down on this group all along and 44 hideouts have been destroyed.  A large number of ammunition were confiscated, among which there are as many as 4,500 grenades.  This fully shows its dangerous nature.  The “ETIM” has a close connection with Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.  Some of its members were sent to al Qaeda to receive training and then sneaked back into China to plot, command and carry out terrorist violent activities.  Therefore it is an outright terrorist organization.  

Q: You have just mentioned the fight against terrorism, especially the strike against East Turkistan terrorist groups.  How do you comment on the role of Pakistan in joining hands with China to counter terrorism and promote the peace process in the region?

A: Pakistan is an important neighbor of China, and the two countries have established a mechanism of anti-terrorism consultation.  Both sides have had very good cooperation and consultation.  China is ready to continue its active participation in the international anti-terrorism cooperation together with Pakistan to carry out the international anti-terrorism campaign to the end.

Q: Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Phan Dien is now on a visit in China.  In addition, member of Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam’s People’s Daily also paid a visit to China.  What is your comment on these two visits?

A: Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Phan Dien is now visiting in China at the invitation of the International Liaison Department of Central Committee of Communist Party of China and yesterday member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of CPC, Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao had a meting with him.  The relationship between the two parties is part and parcel of the all-round bilateral relations between the two countries.  In the recent years, the inter-party cooperation has been going on well and there have been frequent exchange of high level visits.  We are convinced that through these high level visits, both sides can have frequent exchange of views and reach consensus on the all-round development of bilateral relations so that the China-Vietnam relationship will continue to develop on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and friendship.  

I have also noticed the relevant reports on the visit by the Editor-in-Chief of the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam.  The Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily received him warmly.  The cooperation between the two papers has been doing well and there has been frequent contact.  Media is an important channel for the people of the two countries to know each other.  The close cooperation and exchange between the media of the two countries will better the understanding between the two peoples and thus promote the friendship and intensify cooperation between the two countries.
   
Q: Just now you reiterated that there is only one China in the world and both the Mainland and Taiwan belong to one China.  Does it mean that the Foreign Ministry will stick to the wording in the future?  

A: The position of the Chinese Government is a clear-cut one and I have for several times expressed our position in this regard.  There is only one China in the world. Both the Mainland and Taiwan belong to one China and its sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division.  This position is very explicit.  We will for sure stick to it and so do the entire Chinese people.  

Q: Japan has just raised the sunken ship in the East China Sea.  What is your comment?  Besides, the characters of a Chinese place “Shipu” are found printed on the vessel.  How do you comment on this?

A: Yesterday we were briefed by the Japanese side the salvage of the sunken ship in China’s exclusive economic zone was completed.  The Chinese side also indicated that the Japanese side should honor its relevant commitments, continue to prudently handle this issue and withdraw its ships from the relevant waters to restore normalcy.  You may remember that after the incident, the Japanese side expressed its intention to raise the vessel.  Since the venue of the sunken ship is the indisputable exclusive economic zone of China, our position can be summarized as one precondition and four requirements. The precondition is that the Japanese side should recognize China’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Japanese side fully accepted it.  The four requirements are as follows.  First, the Japanese side should provide coordination for the ships of China’s marinetime supervision department in their work in the relevant waters.  Second, the Japanese side should take necessary steps to prevent the salvage from polluting the relevant waters.  Third, the Chinese side should be briefed in time on the progress of the salvage and the result of investigation.  Fourth, all Japanese ships should immediately leave the area when the salvage work is completed.  After the Japanese side made the promises, the Chinese side approved its request on June 18th.  According to China’s supervision and the report of the Japanese side, the salvage actually work took more that 20 days due to storms and unfavorable weather.

As for your second question, we have explicitly pointed out on the day immediately after the incident that it was not a Chinese ship.

Thank you.