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China says conditions maturing for six-party DPRK nuclear talks
BEIJING—China said on Thursday
that conditions for holding a new round of meetings among the chief
negotiators to the six-party nuclear talks were maturing, with all
parties being positive toward the meeting.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made these comments in response to
a media question about the talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
The talks are hosted by China and include the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK),
Japan and Russia.
Jiang said that China would maintain contact and coordination with the
relevant parties and commit itself to push ahead the process and
implement the stated commitments. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei
met with the heads of the five other parties on Wednesday and all agreed
to advance the talks as soon as possible, she said.
Jiang said that both the DPRK and the United States had informed China
that they had reached a consensus on the relevant issues on the nuclear
declaration. “We all believe this is a positive outcome, which helps to
advance the talks. China expresses appreciation of the patient dialogue
between the DPRK and the United States to address their common
concerns,” she added.
Disagreement over the DPRK’s nuclear declaration, which was due by the
end of last year, has deadlocked the six-nation nuclear talks.
Washington had accused Pyongyang of having a secret program to enrich
uranium for weapons and nuclear proliferation and wanted those issues to
be addressed in the declaration. The DPRK denied these charges.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met with the DPRK’s
Vice Foreign Minister, Kim Kye Gwan, on Tuesday in Singapore. Hill said
that this meeting had moved the process forward to resolve the
disarmament impasse on the Korean Peninsula. The Foreign Ministry of the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced Wednesday night
that the DPRK and the United States reached a consensus on its nuclear
declaration.
—Xinhua |
