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China believes war against Iraq avoidable
( 2003-01-29 01:06 ) (1 )

China Tuesday rounded on those who believe war against Iraq is inevitable by saying any "threads of hope'' for averting a conflict should be grasped.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said all efforts should be made to resolve the dispute until hope was extinguished entirely.

"We should give a chance for the Iraq question to be resolved politically and peacefully,'' Zhang said, a day after UN Chief Inspector Hans Blix and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presented a report on whether Iraq has complied with relevant Security Council resolutions.

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the IAEA on Monday gave a better-than-expected assessment of Iraqi co-operation, but called for more efforts by Iraq to resolve those unanswered questions that remain.

"We maintain that no conclusions should be jumped to at this stage,'' Zhang said.

The UN Security Council should respect the assessment of the two organizations, and offer continuous support to the work of the weapons inspections, so the questions can be answered, she said.

China hopes Iraq will strengthen its co-operation with the UN, she added.

"All in all, we think the Iraq question should be solved politically and through diplomatic means within the UN framework. We have stressed this over and over again,'' she said.

The spokeswoman's remarks echoed comments by Zhang Yishan, Chinese deputy envoy to the UN.

The deputy envoy said at UN headquarters the job of the UN weapons inspectors has not completed and China hopes they will continue with their work "impartially, objectively and professionally'' -- as entrusted by UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

He said the UN has started this process and there is no clear reason to stop. Hence the inspectors should continue their work.

It is up to the Security Council to decide how long it will take to finish the inspection process, the deputy envoy said.

The Chinese envoy also urged Iraq to be more co-operative with UN inspectors, and abide by relevant UN resolutions, especially resolution 1441.

Resolution 1441 gives Iraq "a final opportunity'' to eliminate its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles.

It gives inspectors the right to go anywhere at any time and warns Iraq it will face "serious consequences'' if it fails to co-operate.

The deputy envoy noted that both UNMOVIC and the IAEA raised questions in their formal report to the council. "There are questions to be answered and doubts to be cleared.''

Back in Beijing, spokeswoman Zhang declined to speculate on the timeframe of the UN inspection process.

"In terms of how long it will take, a few weeks or a few months, we should respect the opinions of the UN inspectors,'' she said.

Asked what is expected of the next step of the Security Council, the spokeswoman said decisions should be based on the UN body's review of Monday's report and the work of the weapons inspectors.

Zhang Shaoxian, a research fellow with the Beijing-based China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the UNMOVIC report is a somewhat "neutral assessment'' from which different parties concerned could find grounds to support their stance.

He predicted the US might agree to allow the UN weapons inspectors to continue their work for more days -- but that not for too long.