China opposes any foreign intervention in Hong Kong matters,
which are China's internal affairs, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson
told yesterday's regular press conference.
Qin Gang made the remarks when asked to comment on the meeting
between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Martin Lee, a
lawmaker from Hong Kong's Legislative Council.
Rice and Lee met on Tuesday in Washington. A State Department
spokesperson said after the meeting that the US supports Hong
Kong's continued campaign to uphold democracy and universal
suffrage.
Qin said China has always attached great importance to and has
actively supported the progressive development of Hong Kong's
political system based on the special administrative region's Basic
Law and the real situation there.
He expressed the belief that as long as all Hong Kong people can
take Hong Kong's long-term stability and prosperity into
consideration and adopt a rational attitude to seek consensus, Hong
Kong's political system would develop in a steady, sound and
orderly way, and favorable conditions would be created for finally
achieving the goal outlined in the Basic Law -- the Chief Executive
and Legislative Council selection by general election.
In another development, as an 80-kilometer-long slick in the
Songhua River approaches the Heilong River (called Amur in Russia),
Qin said equipment to test for benzene pollutants and 150 tons of
activated carbon to upgrade water filtration systems are on their
way to Russia.
China will dispatch professionals to Russia to help install the
equipment, he added.
Officials from Khabarovsk, the Russian city that is likely to be
most affected by the water pollution, had expressed appreciation
for the timely assistance, he said, noting that the two countries
are negotiating an agreement on joint supervision on water
quality.
On November 13, a blast at a chemical plant in Jilin City,
northeast China's Jilin Province, caused 100 tons of chemicals
mainly benzene and nitrobenzene to leak into the Songhua River,
which flows through Jilin and Heilongjiang before entering
Russia.
The accident forced Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, to suspend
water supply for four days last week because of contamination.
Qin reiterated China's determination to minimize the possible
impact on Russia.
He said China was watching the situation closely and was keeping
its neighbor well informed. The nation began updating Russia with
monitoring results daily from last Thursday. "China also welcomes
cooperation with international organizations," Qin said, adding the
country was also keeping the UN informed.
When asked about the detailed schedule of UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's visit to Beijing from December 4 to 7, Qin said
President Hu Jintao, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and State Councilor
Tang Jiaxuan will meet with him, as will Vice Foreign Minister Dai
Bingguo.
"The two sides will have an exchange of ideas on international
and regional issues of mutual concern and the cooperation between
China and the UN," Qin said.
During his visit, Annan will also meet with students from Peking
University, and will grant some interviews to the Chinese media, he
said.
Qin also said the current visit by Manfred Novak, UN Human
Rights Commission's special rapporteur on torture, indicates
China's sincerity to work with relevant UN human rights mechanisms
in a spirit of mutual respect and equality.
Novak's visit began on November 21 and ends today. In addition
to Beijing, he visited Lhasa, capital city of Tibet Autonomous
Region and Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region.
During his stay, Novak met with officials from the foreign
affairs, justice and public security ministries as well as the
Supreme People's Procuratorate, and local officials in Lhasa and
Urumqi.
Novak also visited prisons and incarceration facilities in the
three cities and talked with some personnel, lawyers and scholars
from universities, academic institutions and other non-governmental
organizations, Qin said.
The rapporteur on torture is a special procedure under the UN
Human Rights Commission, and China believes that Novak's visit will
be conducive to further increasing mutual understanding, Qin
noted.
Turning to the Korean Peninsula, Qin said China adopts an open
attitude toward any proposals conducive to promoting the six-party
talks process and to finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear
issue there, Qin said.
He said South Korea has offered some suggestions concerning the
form and venue for the six-party
talks.
It is in the interest of all concerned parties to achieve the
goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to safeguard
the peninsula's peace and stability through dialogue and peaceful
negotiations, Qin said, adding that China wants to keep in close
touch with other parties concerned and hear their opinions, so as
to push forward the six-party talks process.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily December 2, 2005)