By Jiao Xiaoyang (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-07 07:13

China has praised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's efforts to resolve the Darfur issue and will play a constructive role, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said Thursday.

Ban, on a four-day visit to Sudan that started Monday, stressed the importance of reaching a political settlement and deploying the African Union-UN hybrid force quickly to end a prolonged ethnic conflict.

Liu Guijin, a special envoy for the Darfur issue, is at the UN until September 12. According to Jiang, Liu will communicate with government officials, the United States Congress, scholars and the media during the trip.

Jiang also denounced accusations the Chinese military has hacked Western government computer networks.

"Such accusations are groundless, irresponsible and have ulterior motives."

Sino-Japanese relations thaw further

Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin will visit Japan from September 12 to 18, the Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.

It will be another chance to improve relations between China and Japan, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "ice-breaking" visit to China last October and Premier Wen Jiabao's "ice-thawing" visit to Japan in April.

"This year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of the Sino-Japanese relationship, which is facing important opportunities for development," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said.