The opening of the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) marks an improvement in its organizational structure, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a regular news briefing in Beijing Tuesday.

The secretariat will be officially launched Thursday in Beijing and all foreign ministers of SCO member states will attend the opening ceremony.

 

The SCO was initiated by China and Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan for increasing mutual trust along the border regions and disarmament.

 

After years of development, Kong said, the organization, previously named the Shanghai Five, has expanded cooperation in various fields.

 

The Chinese government believes the establishment of the SCO secretariat will improve the organizational structure and contribute to development, peace and stability in the region.

 

The SCO, officially established in June 2001, comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

 

Turning to Sino-Russian ties, Kong said bilateral relations and cooperation have developed rapidly in recent years, and the two countries worked well together in international affairs.

 

Kong said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov would visit China and attend the opening ceremony of the SCO secretariat on Thursday.

 

He would hold talks with Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing and meet Chinese leaders, Kong said.

 

The two foreign ministers would review the development of relations, and plan the future development of relations, including visits between leaders this year, Kong said.

 

Turning to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers's Beijing visit, Kong said it is a very important one starting off the new year.

 

"We believe that through this visit we can deepen understanding between the two militaries, expand bilateral consensus and develop bilateral friendship while also promoting the healthy and stable development of Sino-US military relations," Kong said.

 

With respect to?the statement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, which?was jointly signed Monday by visiting US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Zhang Huazhu, chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, the spokesman said it is conducive to Sino-US cooperation in this field.

 

The document?aims to increase cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, nuclear non-proliferation, and counter-terrorism between China and the United States, Kong said.

 

By stating the mutual desire and setting the fields of cooperation, the document will exert a positive influence in the region and the world, the spokesman said.

 

Also at yesterday's briefing, the spokesman said China hopes the second round of six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue will start as soon as possible and China is in constant talks with various parties.

 

Kong said two senior Chinese officials had left Beijing Sunday for the United States for discussions on the issue with US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly.

 

The two officials are Fu Ying, head of the Asian Affairs Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Ning Fukui, an ambassador-level official with the Chinese Foreign Ministry in charge of affairs concerning the Korean Peninsula, said Kong.

 

Fu and Ning are also expected to meet other senior US officials, said Kong.

 

In August 2003, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan held the first round of six-party talks in Beijing.

 

Also according to Kong, China's top legislator Wu Bangguo had informed the DPRK that China would provide this neighbor with economic aid.

 

Kong said Wu made the statement during his visit to the DPRK in October last year.

 

As a good neighbor and traditional friend of the DPRK, China had been providing the DPRK with economic assistance within capacity, the spokesman said.

 

Kong said relevant departments of the two countries were consulting on the details of assistance.

 

In another development, China has detained a Japanese citizen for helping two illegal Korean immigrants to flee the Chinese border unlawfully.

 

Takayuki Noguchi, male, arrived in the northeastern Chinese port of Dalian on December 6 and "collaborated with several other people there to transport two aliens who had illegally entered China," the spokesman said.

 

Kong said the three people were detained by local police when they tried to leave China secretly from the southwestern Chinese city of Nanning, near China's border with Vietnam.

 

Takayuki Noguchi's act violated China's Criminal Law which bans illegal transportation of people out of its border, the spokesman said, adding that the police had informed the Japanese Embassy in China on the latest developments.

 

"The case is under investigation right now," Kong said.

 

(Sources including Xinhua News Agency and China Daily, January 14, 2004)