China opposes sanctions against Iran's nuclear ambitions and urges countries to consider a Russian compromise, a Chinese spokesman said yesterday, as Tehran's nuclear negotiator held talks in Beijing.
"We oppose impulsively using sanctions or threats of sanctions to solve problems. This will complicate problems," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan (
In Moscow on Wednesday, Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani said referring Iran's nuclear activities to the UN Security Council would prompt Tehran to start uranium enrichment.
But he also signaled interest in a Russian proposal to enrich Iranian uranium on Russian soil -- a compromise backers say would give Iran nuclear power but restrain any moves to make weapons.
Kong said Russia's offer should be seriously considered.
"We think the Russian proposal is a good attempt to break this stalemate," he said.
China yesterday urged all parties involved in the dispute to step up diplomatic efforts as Larijani underscored the country's close ties with Beijing.
"We agreed members of the [Non-Proliferation Treaty] have right [sic] to peaceful nuclear energy," Larijani told reporters after meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
In turn, Tang told Larijani that all "parties concerned should step up diplomatic efforts to create favorable conditions for the resumption of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue," Xinhua news agency said.
Earlier this month, Iran removed UN seals on uranium enrichment equipment and resumed nuclear fuel research. It says it does not want nuclear weapons, and has the right to enrich uranium at home.
The US and its EU allies, who fear Iran might move to developing nuclear weapons, say the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should turn Iran over to the UN Security Council.
Russia and China have urged other solutions to the standoff.
The council's veto-wielding permanent members plan to meet in London on Monday to try to resolve differences over what to do about Iran.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
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The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths