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China denied on Monday that it provided Muammar Gadhafi's regime in Libya with weapons in its final days, saying it "does not allow any actions that contravene UN resolutions".

"Chinese companies have not provided military products to Libya in any direct or indirect form. Chinese companies did not sign arms sales contracts and they did not export military products to Libya," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular news conference.

She made the remarks in response to reports in the New York Times and the Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, that documents found abandoned in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, indicated that Chinese companies offered to sell rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and other arms to Gadhafi's forces, despite bans on such sales.

The reports said Libyan security officials visiting China in July were received by three arms companies, including Norinco and the China Xinxing Import and Export Corp.

But a "senior NATO diplomat in Brussels discounted the report as highly unlikely", and members of a United Nations agency overseeing sanctions on Libya said "nothing about arms dealings with China had been brought to their attention", the New York Times report said.

Jiang said that members of Gadhafi's government had come to China in July and held talks with a few representatives of the related Chinese arms companies without the knowledge of the government.

She said China has paid close attention to the humanitarian situation in Libya and offered humanitarian assistance since the outbreak of the Libyan crisis in February.

She stressed that China has been in touch with both sides in Libya during the crisis and played a positive role in promoting dialogue and seeking peace.

In Libya, rebel reinforcements arrived outside one of Gadhafi's last strongholds on Monday.

Thousands of rebels have converged on Bani Walid, a desert town some 140 km southeast of Tripoli. Gadhafi has been on the run since losing his capital last month.

The rebels have extended a deadline for the surrender of Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte and other loyalist areas to Saturday, but some have warned they could attack Bani Walid sooner because many prominent former regime officials were believed to be there.

Questions

1. Why do many believe Chinese companies may have supplied weapons to the Gadhafi regime?

2. What is the Chinese government’s stance on the situation in Libya?

3. When is the deadline set by the rebels for the surrender of Sirte and surrounding areas?

Answers

1. Abandoned documents in Tripoli indicate that Chinese companies offered to supply weapons to Gadhafi’s forces despite bans on such.

2. Members of the government have been in talks with both sides in Libya and seek to promote positive dialogue and peace.

3. Saturday, though many believe the rebels will attack sooner.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

?Christine Mallari is an intern at China Daily. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in a nearby suburb before moving for college. After recently graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in English, Journalism and Mass Communications, she moved to Beijing to work with China Daily. Though she has been working in journalism since high school, this is her first time doing so abroad.