Riots will not be inspired in China: Officials

Egypt, Tunisia situations are not relevant to living conditions here

BEIJING - Recent riots in the Middle East and North Africa will not be repeated in China as the government is doing a good job and taking people's demands seriously, a key political adviser has said.

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"Some media have said the problems in the Middle East will infect China, and that there have been such signals in China. I have said explicitly, with confidence, that such comparison is very absurd and does not match the facts," Zhao Qizheng, spokesman for the Fourth Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said at a news conference on Saturday.

Uprisings started late last year in North Africa have toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and spread to Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, resulting in deaths and economic loss and sparking mass evacuations of foreigners.

China has well handled two international economic crises, while the renminbi, China's currency, is standing firm due to the prosperous economy, said Zhao, head of the foreign affairs committee of the CPPCC National Committee.

As for some social problems such as surging housing prices and the deepening income gap between the rich and the poor, Zhao said the government has made wise decisions, though it still needs time to show effect.

"We are to build 10 million apartments in one year, can you hear about that in any other country around the world?" he said.

China plans to build 36 million government-subsidized apartments in the coming five years, including 10 million in 2011, so more apartments will be available for low-income residents, Premier Wen Jiabao said a couple of days ago during an online chat with China's netizens.

"So be relieved, that (the riots) will not happen," said Zhao Qizheng.

Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, warned at the news conference on China's public diplomacy that excessive foreign intervention in the turbulent nations will have negative results.

And if such riots were introduced into China, the world's second largest economy that is making a great contribution to global economy, not only China but also the world will suffer, he said.

Asked about Beijing's close relationship with Pyongyang, Zhao said it is deeply rooted in history.

"The relations between China and the Korean Peninsula are so deep in the history, our cultural connections are so close, while our fates in World War II are identical," he said, adding that is why Beijing is a friend of both Pyongyang and Seoul.

China is the only big country keeping good relations with both countries on the peninsula, Chen Haosu said.

And that is a unique advantage of Chinese diplomacy, which played a great role in soothing mounting tensions on the peninsula at the end of last year over November's deadly shelling of an island of the Republic of Korea, he said.

"So we have no reason to drop the advantage," he added.