"It is a right and positive decision," Kong said Thursday at a regular press briefing.

"We sincerely hope that the UN Security Council resolution can be implemented in a comprehensive and strict manner, that the UN inspectors return to Baghdad as soon as possible, and that the Iraqi issue be solved within the UN framework at an early date," Kong said.

Kong also reiterated the importance of the 1994 Agreed Framework between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) when asked to comment on the visit of US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly to Beijing.

Kelly met Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday focusing on the continuation of fuel oil shipments to the DPRK. The framework has played an important role in relaxing tensions on the peninsula, Kong said.

In another development, Kong said China has demanded that Japan recall Amano Hiromasa, a Japanese military attaché who entered a military restricted area in East China's Zhejiang Province on October 26.

"Amano himself has admitted that he had poked (around for) military information in the restricted area," Kong said. "His action has violated several Chinese laws and the evidence is clear," he added.

Kong also revealed that Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan will attend the foreign ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization next Saturday in Moscow and visit Spain and Germany after the meeting.

Vice-Foreign Minister Yang Wenchang will head the Chinese delegation to the senior officials' meeting of the China-Africa Co-operation Forum on November 25 in Ethiopia.

(China Daily November 15, 2002)