| | MIN. TANG JIAXUAN (Minister of Foreign
Affairs, China): (Through interpreter.) Mr. President, I will have to begin by
congratulating Germany on its assumption of the presidency of the Security Council
for this month. It's a great pleasure to see Foreign Minister Fischer chair today's
meeting.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep condolences
for the tragic deaths of astronauts aboard space shuttle Columbia and convey my
heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families. I wish to thank Secretary
Powell for his presentation. Now, I would like to share the following views
on Iraq.
First, the fact that foreign ministers for most of the council
members are present at today's meeting shows the importance all parties attach
to the authority and role of the Security Council, and to their support for the
resolution of the Iraqi issue within the framework of this world party. The Security
Council has basically maintained unity and cooperation on this issue. This is
of crucial importance to its appropriate resolution and represents the desire
of the international community.
Secondly, China welcomes the U.S. move
to provide the United Nations with this information and evidence on weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq, which we believe is consistent with the spirit of Resolution
1441 and could help increase transparency. We hope that various parties will hand
over their information and evidence to the UNMOVIC and the IAEA. This will help
them with more effective inspections and through their on-the-spot inspections,
these information and evidence can also be evaluated. The two agencies should
report their findings to the Security Council in a timely way.
Thirdly,
the inspections have been going on for more than two months now. The two
agencies have been working very hard and their work deserves our recognition.
It is their view that now they are not in a position to draw conclusions, and
they suggested continuing with the inspections. We should respect the views of
the two agencies and support the continuation of their work.
We hope
that the upcoming trip to Iraq by Chairman Blix and Director General ElBaradei
on the 8th would yield positive results. The two agencies pointed out not long
ago some problems in the inspections. We urge Iraq to adopt a more proactive approach,
make further explanations and clarification as soon as possible, and cooperate
with the inspection process.
Fourthly, the Security Council has a common
stand on the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This is fully
reflected in relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly the unanimously
adopted Resolution 1441. The most important aspect at present remains the full
implementation of this resolution. As for what will be the next step, the Security
Council should decide through discussions by all members on the basis of the results
of the inspections.
Fifthly, it is the universal desire of the international community to
see a political settlement to the issue of Iraq within the U.N. framework
and avoid any war. This is something the Security Council must attach
due importance to. As long as there is still the slightest hope for
political settlement, we should exert our utmost effort to achieve that.
China is ready to join others in working towards this direction.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
| |
