China hopes to see comprehensive, objective and fair assessment of its development and human rights conditions, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the remarks at a regular press conference commenting on a delegation of Reporters Without Borders visiting China and meeting Chinese officials, and investigating the possibility of the organization setting up an office in Beijing.

Jiang said she has learned about the visit but did not have much information about it.

"We have always believed that international dialogue on human rights should be held on the basis of equality and mutual respect," Jiang said. "We hope they can have a comprehensive, objective and fair assessment of China's development and human rights conditions."

"This will help improve the understanding of China and be conducive to bilateral exchanges and dialogue," she said.

China and Japan began their seventh round of strategic dialogue in Beijing yesterday. Jiang described this dialogue as an important channel to carry out the consensus of top leaders of the two countries.

Furthermore, China maintains an open attitude toward a new round of China-Japan consultation over the East China Sea issue, although no date has been fixed, she added.

China and Japan do have common ground on the issue, with both agreeing to joint development of the sea and the proper resolution of the issue through dialogue and consultation, she said.

In Cebu of the Philippines in early January, Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed their will to speed up the consultation process about the East China Sea issue.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Supreme Court has started hearings on the ownership of Guanghualiao (known as Kokaryo in Japan), a once five-story dormitory that Kyoto University rented out to Chinese students during World War II.

Taiwan's "mission" in Japan purchased the estate in May 1950, but the Chinese Embassy to Japan and Consulate General in Kyoto have cared for the building and contributed special funds for its maintenance.

Plaintiffs representing Taiwan's authorities first brought the province's claim on the building to court in 1967. It was overruled in 1977 at the Kyoto Local Court, but in its ruling and review in 1982 and 1987, the Osaka High Court overturned the first ruling.

"The Guanghualiao case is not merely a property case, but a political case concerning China's legitimate rights," Jiang said.

Commenting on a Japanese filmmaker's plan to shoot a documentary about the Nanjing Massacre in December 1937, when Japanese troops killed 300,000 Chinese, Jiang expressed hope that Japan would adopt a measured and reasonable stance to historical issues so that they may win true trust from its Asian neighbors and the international community.

The film reportedly has the working title The Truth About Nanking. The documentary aims to deny Japanese soldiers massacred Chinese civilians and prisoners of war in Nanjing.

Jiang said the Nanjing Massacre bore irrefutable evidence, and the international community had arrived at a final conclusion on the matter long ago.

Turning to the six-party talks over the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Jiang said China is consulting with relevant parties on resuming the negotiations soon.

On the speculation of the financial sanction talks between the US and North Korea being held in Beijing on January 29, Jiang said China has no idea of such arrangements.

Jiang said all parties concerned, namely China, the US, Japan, Russia, North and South Korea, have undergone a flurry of contacts and consultations to propose some preliminary plans and suggestions.

"We think all these are of positive meaning and lay a foundation for an early resumption of the negotiations," she said.

In another development, Jiang announced China has donated 130 million yuan (US$16.7 million) to Lebanon to aid the country in its reconstruction efforts.

She said China would announce its donation at an international conference for Lebanese aid held in Paris yesterday.

She said China views the conference as an extremely important event and that China's envoy to the Middle East issue, Sun Bigan, would attend the conference.

According to Jiang, China will increase the number of its peacekeepers in Lebanon to 335 from the current 225 by mid-February. By then China's peacekeepers in Lebanon will comprise a engineering battalion of 275 members and a medical team of 60 members.

Jiang announced that Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates will pay an official visit to China from January 30 to February 3 at the invitation of Premier Wen.

"We believe the visit will further enrich the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and deepen our friendly cooperation in various fields," she said.

Socrates will meet with Wen, top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo and Vice President Zeng Qinghong during his stay in Beijing, and will also visit Shanghai and Macao Special Administrative Region, according to the spokeswoman.

"China thinks highly of this visit as this will be his first visit to China since taking office as prime minister," Jiang noted.

As Portugal will assume the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of 2007, China prepare to work with Portugal in ramping up political dialogue and cooperation in major international affairs, she said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2007)