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SLUG: 2-296354 China / North Korea / U-S
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DATE=01/14/03 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA/NOKOR/US - S & L NUMBER=2-296354 BYLINE=LETA HONG FINCHER DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: China says it is willing to let the United States and North Korea hold talks in Beijing to resolve their nuclear standoff. The comment comes as a senior U-S envoy arrives in the Chinese capital to seek China's help in persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. V-O-A correspondent Leta Hong Fincher has this report from Beijing.
TEXT: China still refuses to say whether it will pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear program - but Tuesday said it would be willing to play a facilitating role. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue tells reporters that her government is ready to actively support dialogue between the United States and North Korea on the issue. /// ZHANG ACT IN CHINESE, EST. THEN FADE /// Ms. Zhang says if the parties concerned are willing to hold talks in Beijing, China would "have no problem" with the arrangement. ///ZHANG ACT 2 IN CHINESE, EST. THEN FADE/// She notes that China does not want to see the current dispute escalate and Beijing continues to maintain close contact with Pyongyang as well as multifaceted diplomatic channels. /// REST OPT /// China's basic position is that it wants a nuclear free Korean Peninsula - but has declined to take a publicly active role in achieving that until Tuesday. China is North Korea's last major ally, as well as a large donor of food and energy aid, and therefore might be able to exert influence on its isolated, Communist neighbor. U-S Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly in talks with Chinese officials in Beijing is hoping to get Beijing to use its position to pressure North Korea. /// SUB OPT /// Mr. Kelly said Monday in Seoul that the United States and other countries may resume energy aid to North Korea if it scraps nuclear weapons programs. He also repeated a U-S offer to hold direct talks. Tensions over North Korea began in October, when U-S officials said Pyongyang was secretly developing nuclear weapons, in violation of a 1994 agreement. Washington and its allies halted fuel shipments to Pyongyang in response. Shortly thereafter, North Korea moved to re-open its main nuclear complex - which is capable of producing plutonium weapons, expelled U-N nuclear inspectors, pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and threatened to resume missile tests. (Signed) NEB/HK/LHF/JO |
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