China says Afghan peace vital for regional security

• Lu says China supports Afghan-led peace process in Afghanistan

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang on Wednesday said that the peace and stability of Afghanistan was highly important for the development and security of the neighbouring and the regional countries.

“So, we contend that any move should respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and conducive to the peace process of Afghanistan,” he said during his regular press briefing while responding to a media report about deployment of more US troops in Afghanistan.

When asked has China undertaken a kind of mediation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the spokesperson said that he was not aware of such a report. “In principle, I should say, China always supports an Afghan-led peace process in Afghanistan,” he said.

Lu hoped the relevant regional countries would strengthen cooperation and unity to fight the terrorism and stay upholding peace and stability in that region to create an enabling environment for the regional development. Regarding update on possible killing of two kidnapped Chinese citizens in Pakistan, he said that they express high concerns but to date Pakistan has not confirmed this information to China.

Now, the Chinese side is intensifying efforts to verify the relevant information, he said. “We always require the Chinese citizens to abide by the local laws and regulation during travelling and living foreign countries and respect the customs of local people and stay alert to protect their own security and safety,” he said on a question that the abducted Chinese were working with a Korean missionary.

On the information of possible preaching by these people, he said the Chinese side would cooperate with Pakistan to further investigate this information. To a question, he said that Taiwan would find itself in a dead end if it denies the 1992 Consensus that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China.

He said that the one China principle not only concerns the core interest of China and the feelings of the 1.3 billion Chinese, but also was the prerequisite and political foundation of developing relations between China and foreign countries. Stressing that China has more and more friends now, he said there was no way out for Taiwan to refuse to accept the 1992 Consensus.

To another question, he said that the economic and trade cooperation between China and the US was in nature for win-win results, as has been repeated by China many times. Therefore, “we also hope that the US side can provide a sound environment for Chinese enterprises to invest and start business in the US,” he said.

He said that facts have proven that a sound pair of trade and investment relationship between China and the US brings tangible benefits to the two sides. “We believe there should not be undue political dimensions imposed on commercial takeovers, let alone political intervention,” he said.