China hopes all parties will seriously fulfill their commitments made at the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue, which ended in Beijing on Monday with the adoption of a joint statement, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said yesterday.

 

"I believe all parties will take a responsible attitude toward the earnest fulfillment of their commitments so as to realize denuclearization and safeguard peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia at large," Qin Gang said at Tuesday's regular press conference.

 

Negotiators from China, the US, Russia, Japan, South and North Korea issued a joint statement on Monday that establishes a framework for a package solution to the nuclear issue.

 

But one day after the statement was issued, North Korea vowed it would return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) only after the US provides it with light water reactors (LWRs) for generating power.

 

"We will return to the NPT and sign the Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and comply with it immediately upon the US provision of LWRs, a basis of confidence-building," a spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said yesterday that North Korea's demand was unacceptable, Kyodo News Service reported.

 

"I don't think the North Korean side has any misunderstanding on the joint statement," Qin said. "As to the problems, concerns or interests, we need to solve them gradually in the process of further six-party talks."

 

According to the joint statement, North Korea says it has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Other parties have expressed their respect for this right and agreed to discuss, at an appropriate time, the subject of the provision of LWRs.

 

"The six parties need further consultations on what the appropriate time is," Qin said, adding that there are still many problems ahead even if they are not insurmountable.

 

"This is just a general frame," Qin said, referring to the joint statement. "We hope all parties continue to push forward the six-party talks in the spirit of mutual respect and equal consultation."

 

Turning to the disputes with Japan over the East China Sea, Qin said China hopes the issue can be resolved through dialogue.

 

China and Japan dispute boundary demarcation in the East China Sea. In a bid to resolve the issue, the two sides have engaged in two rounds of consultations: one in October 2004 and the other this May.

 

They need to further discuss when the next round of talks will be held, Qin said.

 

He noted that China conducts exploration in the East China Sea inside China's offshore area.

 

The two countries have never conducted border demarcation in the disputed East China Sea. Japan once unilaterally announced a median line, which was not accepted by China.

 

Qin also announced that President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo will visit from September 26 to 30 at the invitation of President Hu Jintao.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)