China strongly opposes the practice of using the Olympic Games to hype political issues such as Darfur, and it is in fact disturbing the preparation works of the Games, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a routine press conference on Thursday.

 

"It is of apparent political intention and purpose to link the Darfur issue with the Olympics," Jiang said in response to the question that whether China would put more pressure on Sudan as someone considered China's continued support for the regime in Sudan could tarnish the Olympics.

 

"Such practice violates the Olympic spirit and principle, and will never succeed." China will never, ever accept those accusations, said Jiang, adding that international society knows very well that China has exerted a positive and constructive influence on the Darfur issue.

 

"I don't know whether those organizations know China's role on the issue and the current situation in the Darfur region," she said.

 

China has been the first country to promise and then to dispatch soldiers to participate in peacekeeping missions in Darfur.

 

A 140-strong advance troop of a Chinese engineering unit has arrived in Darfur, and the unit is gradually being deployed.

 

The political process and peacekeeping deployment in Darfur has achieved progress under the joint efforts of all concerned parties, Jiang said.

 

China always maintains that a "double track" strategy -- a balanced combination of political process and the peacekeeping mission should be applied in resolving the Darfur issue, she said.

 

China also supports taking advantage of the leading role of the Sudanese government, UN and AU (African Union) negotiation mechanism.

 

Meanwhile, various difficulties may arise during the process of the deployment of any UN-AU hybrid-mission peacekeeping missions.

 

Jiang called for all concerned parties to increase cooperation so as to resolve related issues through coordination.

 

"China will continue to play a constructive role in pushing forward a proper settlement of the Darfur issue," Jiang said.

 

Draft UN resolution on Iran nuclear issue

 

The six nations have reached consensus on the major elements of a draft United Nations resolution on the Iran nuclear issue, which says the all sides will continue diplomatic efforts and resolve the issue through negotiations.

 

Foreign Ministers from China, the United States, Russia, Britain, France and Germany held talks on Tuesday in Berlin on the Iran nuclear issue.

 

Jiang said the consensus is the result of negotiations and discussions of the six sides.

 

The draft resolution also welcomes progress made by Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on resolving some unsolved issues, and encourages them to continue the work, Jiang said.

 

She called for all relevant sides to strengthen diplomatic efforts, and take the initiative to find a creative way to break the deadlock, so as to solve the nuclear issue in a comprehensive and proper way.

 

According to Jiang, the draft resolution will be submitted to the UN Security Council and go through further discussions of all members of the Security Council.

 

"Therefore, the international community should have more diplomatic efforts in such a crucial point for a comprehensive and proper solution of the nuclear issue," she said.

 

According to Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, the draft resolution envisages additional measures against that country, but they are not harsh sanctions.

 

The draft resolution "clearly confirms that if Iran agrees with proposals made by the six nations, direct negotiations will be launched to settle all issues on the Iranian nuclear program -- direct negotiations involving the six nations, including the United States," Lavrov said.

 

The diplomatic standoff between Iran and the West began almost six years ago over suspicions that Tehran's nuclear work is a cover for an atomic weapons program.

 

So far, the UN Security Council has adopted two resolutions, one in December of 2006 and the other in March of 2007, to force Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities and give up its nuclear programs.

 

Six-party talks

 

China hopes all parties involved will implement the second phase action plan on resolving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula with sincerity and patience.

 

Jiang made the remarks when asked to comment on the latest progress of the six-party talks, adding that all the parties should carry out their obligations in an all-round and balanced manner.

 

Jiang said the multilateral talks had made important progress, including the disabling of most nuclear facilities at Yongbyon of North Korea, while heavy oil and alternative material assistance from other parties was gradually being provided to the country, and the relationship between the parties had improved.

 

According to a six-party talks joint document released in Beijing on Oct. 3 last year, North Korea agreed to disable all its existing nuclear facilities and provide a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs by the end of 2007.

 

The six-party talks, initiated in 2003 and aimed at resolving the nuclear issue, involve China, North and South Korea, the US, Russia and Japan.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2008)