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China welcomes direct US-DPRK contacts
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-05-10 20:39
China welcomes any direct contact between Washington and Pyongyang -- whether
it is within or outside the framework of the Six-Party Talks, the Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
Liu Jianchao said Beijing believes any form of discussions would be helpful
to solve the nuclear stalemate on the Korean Peninsula.
"We are pleased if Washington and Pyongyang have direct contacts in any
forms," added Liu at a regular news briefing.
"We support any concrete measure that is favourable to pursuing the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he added.
However, the conditions required for direct contact between Pyongyang and
Washington depend on the two parties themselves instead of the Chinese side, he
said.
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| Foreign Ministery spokesman Liu Jianchao invites a question
during a regular press conference in Beijing, May 10, 2005.
[fmprc.gov.cn] | "No matter whether the contact
within or outside the framework of the Six-Party Talks, if the two sides could
hold exchanges of opinion on the issue, I believe it would be conducive to
making progress to the denuclearization process," added Liu.
The US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Monday that the United
States is willing to have direct contact with DPRK only within the framework of
Six-Party Talks.
Casey's words came after the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Sunday that Pyongyang has no intention to hold
bilateral talks with Washington, which would be separate from the framework of
the Six-Party Talks.
When asked to comment on the reports that the US President George W. Bush
called DPRK leader a "tyrant," Liu said "any party of the Six-Party Talks should
take measures and words and actions that are favourable to the resumption of the
talks, and should not say or do anything not conducive to continuing them."
Turning to the proposal to entrust UN Security Council to deal with the DPRK
nuclear programme, Liu said China still regards the Six-Party Talks as the best
way to solve the issue.
He said all the involved parties, including Pyongyang and Washington, all
agreed to continue with the talks and has pledged to renew efforts to restart
the stalled negotiation.
"We should not lose confidence and try our best to push forward the talks,"
he said.
Equal footing
Liu reassured China's position of not asserting pressures or imposing
sanctions to pull DPRK back to the negotiation table, saying Beijing's political
and trade relations with Pyongyang should not be linked to the nuclear issue.
Liu said China will continue the "normal state-to-state and trade relations"
with the DPRK.
"We stand for resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation on an
equal footing. We are not in favour of exerting pressure or imposing sanctions,"
Liu said. "We believe that such measures are not necessarily effective."
It is reported last week that China had turned down a US request to pressure
the DPRK to return to nuclear disarmament talks by cutting off oil supplies.
Six-Party Talks, which involve China, DPRK, the United States, the Republic
of Korea, Russia and Japan, have been stalled since last June after three
rounds.
Asked if China believed Pyongyang was preparing for a nuclear weapons test,
Liu said he did not have any evidence or get confirmation from any sides.
It is reported DPRK yesterday accused the United States of making a fuss by
notifying the nation's possible preparations for a nuclear test.
EU Troika
The European Union's Troika foreign ministers, Luxembourg foreign minister
Jean Asselbom, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero- Waldner and a
representative of British Foreign Secretary will start a two-day visit to
Beijing today.
They will meet Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Textiles
and the lifting of arms embargo are expected to be touched upon but no new
agreement is expected to be inked during this visit, according to the ministry
source.
It is EU's Troika's first official tour to China, which is an important part
of the celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations
between China and EU.
Ma Keqing, deputy director of Department of European Affairs of the Foreign
Ministry, spoke highly of the smooth development of the China-EU relations
yesterday, stressing that they are "active" and "fruitful."
"The visit will deepen the bilateral all-around strategic partnership," she
said.
The EU has become the biggest trading partner of China while China is the
second largest trading partner of the EU, Ma said.
Last year, bilateral trade hit US$177 billion, 74 times of the number in
1975, when the two sides established diplomatic relations.
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