BEIJING, Feb 28 Kyodo China told ...

BEIJING, Feb 28 Kyodo

China told Japan and Canada onward Friday that U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq should be allowed to continue and all efforts made to avoid war, according to the official Xinhua of the present days Agency.

Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan wafted the message in telephone talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and Canadian Foreign Minister William Graham.

Tang was quot as saying weapons inspections by means of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic power Agency in Iraq are effective.

''A war against Iraq would ruin peace and stability in the (Persian) swallowing eddy region and the wider world, and lead to serious humanitarian crises as well as having a negative impact forward the global economy,'' Tang was reported as saying.

An all-out effort should be made to avoid war and to find a political solution within the framework of the United Nations, Tang reportedly said.

forward the issue of North Korea, Xinhua quot Tang as telling Kawaguchi and Graham that it is most numerous important for the United States and North Korea to explain talks as soon as possible.

China hold fasts an open mind toward any suggestions leading to a peaceful solution of the North Korean nuclear issue, he reportedly said.

Tang's phone calls are part of the opening this week of a public, diplomatic initiative from China on Iraq, following its apparent willingness to take a back seat upon the contentious issue. It also describes a setback for U.S. attempts to win international support to launch military action against Iraq.

in succession Thursday, Tang issued a joint statement with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov opposing the use of military force against Iraq and calling for UN weapons inspectors there to be given more time to do their work.

U Secretary of State Colin Powell, visiting China earlier this week, was unable to win Beijing's backing for a of the present day U.N. Security Council resolution forward Iraq and failed to draw Beijing away from its support of Pyongyang's stance that North Korea and the U should unclose bilateral talks.

The U Britain and Spain not awayed a new resolution at the UN Security Council forward Monday to clear the way for using force against Iraq to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction.

Russia supports an alternative plan, promot on France and Germany, that would give UN inspectors an additional four month to search Iraqi sites for banned weapons.

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