The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that China has proposed a date for the next round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue.

The ministry's spokesperson Kong Quan did not disclose the proposed date and said China was still waiting for confirmation from the other parties concerned. Participating countries include China, the United States, Russia, North Korea, South Korea and Japan.

To date, all parties have agreed in principle that the new round of negotiations would be held in Beijing in early November, Kong told a regular press conference.

He also mentioned the just-concluded visit by Li Bin, Chinese envoy in charge of Korean Peninsular affairs, to North Korea, the US and South Korea.

Li consulted with relevant departments of the countries on the new round of nuclear talks and scored some achievements, Kong said.

He expressed the hope that all parties concerned could work together for new progress in the fifth round of negotiations.

Turning to Sino-Japanese relations, Kong said China will continue to improve them in the spirit of learning from history and facing the future, despite the recent cabinet reshuffle by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

He said China always advocates improving and developing Sino-Japanese ties in accordance with the principle of the three political documents -- the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the Peace and Friendship Treaty and the Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration -- and in the spirit of learning from history and facing the future.

In a cabinet reshuffle on Monday, Koizumi appointed to key posts two politicians known to support his annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Kong also repeated Beijing's "strong opposition" to Japanese leaders' visits to the shrine, saying they are in violation of Japan's commitments to show remorse for its wartime atrocities.

"The visits to the Yasukuni Shrine are not a matter of dialogue," Kong said, "but a serious political issue."

He said it is a question of whether the Japanese side can truly keep its commitment to show remorse, and pursue peaceful development. He said Sino-Japanese relations are facing difficulties now, but the responsibility does not lie with the Chinese side.

"The key to overcoming the difficulties and to bringing bilateral ties back to the normal level of development is concrete action by the Japanese side, and not just words, to show the political will to improve relations," Kong said.

He also stressed that the alliance between Japan and the US should be "a bilateral arrangement" and "not target any third party."

China hopes Japan and the US will respect the peace and stability aspirations of all countries in the region as well as their security concerns, he said.

Both countries, Kong said, should do more to increase mutual understanding and trust in the region and help maintain peace.

In a so-called "2+2" meeting involving Japanese and top US foreign and defense officials held on October 29 in Washington, the US and Japan agreed to deploy a powerful missile defense radar in Japan and tighten army ties in a major realignment of the main US military alliance in Asia.

Commenting on the South Asia earthquake, Kong said China welcomed and appreciated the agreement adopted by India and Pakistan to temporarily open the disputed Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir to facilitate aid efforts.

China hopes and believes the move will help increase the trust and cooperation between the two countries, and relieve tension between them, he said.

Representatives of Pakistan and India reached a consensus on Sunday to open five checkpoints along the LoC in Kashmir to allow relief goods to be transported freely between the two sides beginning November 7. The people living on both sides will also be free to cross the line to help each other in the wake of the devastating October 8 earthquake.

Kong said China has offered another batch of 600 tents and 24,000 quilts and padded mattresses to Pakistan for earthquake victims.

The relief goods were shipped from Beijing on Monday, he said.

So far, China's relief aid to Pakistan has amounted to US$20.5 million.

In addition, another Chinese search and rescue team arrived in Pakistan's disaster-struck areas on Sunday, Kong said.

"Chinese people are deeply concerned about the difficulties in Pakistan caused by the earthquake," he said.

Kong said that the Chinese government is considering sending representatives to attend a meeting on the reconstruction of quake-hit areas on November 19 in Pakistan.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily November 2, 2005)