"China expresses deep concern and profound worry over the severe deterioration of the situation in the Middle East recently,'' said Foreign Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue at a regular press conference.

In addition, China also condemns the violent actions against Palestinian civilians in Israeli territory, calling for an early end to the retaliatory attacks, she said.

China has made contributions to easing the tense situation in the Middle East, said Zhang.

For example, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan has had phone conversations with his counterpart in Qatar, the presiding country of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, expressing China's position on the Middle East situation.

During Tang's telephone conversation with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Israel expressed a willingness following Tang's request to make a commitment to the international community to ensure President Arafat's safety and not to destroy the Palestinian national authority, said Zhang.

At the same time, China maintains all kinds of channels for consultation and co-ordination with the UN Secretary General and other UN Security Council members on the issue.

"China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role within the international community to ease the tension in the Middle East,'' said Zhang.

In another development, China's Ambassador to Vienna Zhang Yan notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officially on March 28 that it had completed the legal procedures necessary for the Protocol Addition to the Safeguards Agreement between the IAEA and People's Republic of China, according to reports.

Commenting on the news, the spokeswoman stressed that China firmly opposes nuclear proliferation, and supports the IAEA's enhancement of the existing body of safeguards and its fulfillment of its obligation to promote non-proliferation. China is now a signatory to the protocol.

The first among the five nuclear States to complete the necessary legal procedures, China believes that the legal procedures will be conducive to promoting universality and the implementation of the protocol, and will consolidate and strengthen the current international push to prevent nuclear proliferation, said Zhang.

Zhang pointed out that China hopes that other countries with nuclear capabilities, including the United States, Russia, Britain and France, will complete the necessary legal procedures at an early date. Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan wrote to his counterparts in the above-mentioned nations on March 28 about the issue.

On China's continuous efforts to crack down on the Falun Gong according to the nation's laws, Zhang stressed that the cult has brought disasters to families and society and caused the death of about 1,700 followers.

"We call on all countries to educate their people to abide by Chinese laws and regulations when they come to China,'' said Zhang.

(China Daily April 3, 2002)