Joint anti-terror efforts sought at APEC meeting
( 2002-10-25 09:28 ) (7 )

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Wednesday (local time) called on the international community to make continued efforts to strengthen co-operation in fighting all forms of terrorism.

Tang made the appeal at a ministerial meeting held in Los Cabos, northern Mexico, as a prelude to the 10th annual meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum scheduled for October 26-27.

He said that as a major economic co-operation forum in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC should take further steps to deepen anti-terror co-operation, strengthen customs inspection against terrorism, and cut off funding sources for terrorists.

It should also seek to ensure the safety of telecommunications, on the basis of the anti-terror statement issued by APEC leaders in the 2001 APEC leaders meeting in Shanghai.

Tang said terrorism is still a direct threat to peace in the Asia-Pacific region. And China, which has been the victim of terrorist outrages, resolutely condemns and opposes all forms of terrorism, supports and resolutely implements the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and actively participates in all the anti-terror co-operation of APEC, said Tang.

Tang re-affirmed that China favours a political settlement of the dispute over weapons inspection in Iraq.

In a telephone call to French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on the Iraq issue, Tang said China continues to support a political settlement of the Iraq weapons inspection dispute, within the UN framework.

He hoped that consensus will be reached during consultations of the United Nations Security Council as early as possible, in order that UN weapons inspectors can return to Iraq to resume their work of inspection, smoothly and effectively.

On Monday, US officials distributed a new draft resolution to the permanent members of the UN Security Council. The Bush administration believes its proposal will strengthen the mandate of UN weapons inspectors and also to increase pressure on Saddam Hussein.

But Russia and France expressed dissatisfaction with the latest US proposal, signifying that the latest US effort intended to win international support for the possible use of force against Iraq has hit yet another stumbling block.

"The American draft resolution, which was presented yesterday, does not, for the moment, meet the criteria which the Russian side had previously outlined and stands by now," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said after he met in Moscow with Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, on Tuesday. Ivanov's counterpart, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, said of the latest US proposal: "Much work remains to be done."