Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing on Sunday that the Chinese side is shocked over the case that a Chinese diplomat and a Chinese citizen in Kyrgyzstan were killed on June 29.

"The Chinese side strongly condemns such an evil act," Liu said.

"We have asked the Kyrgyzstani side to uncover the case as soon as possible and seize and severely punish the murderer," the spokesman said.

Liu said the Kyrgyzstani side has expressed deep regret for the sad incident and vowed to spare no efforts to look into the case, crack the case as soon as possible and punish the murderer according to law.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2002)