Beijing: A top US envoy had "useful" talks
with Chinese officials on Thursday on easing the threat of war on
the Korean peninsula, hoping to gain insights about a senior
Chinese official`s recent meeting with North Korea`s absolute
leader, Kim Jong Il.
Stephen Bosworth met with Wang Jiarui, who heads the
Communist Party`s international affairs office, Vice Foreign
Minister Zhang Zhijun and other officials. He was to travel to
Japan later today.
"Ambassador Bosworth and Chinese counterparts had
useful consultations on how to coordinate moving forward in
dealing with North Korea," a US Embassy statement said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei confirmed
Bosworth`s meetings. "The sides agreed to remain in contact on
maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and
over the six-party talks," Hong told a news conference.
The talks on North Korea`s nuclear programme involve
the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia, but have been
on hold for nearly two years.
Bosworth had been expected to ask China for
information on last month`s talks in Pyongyang between North
Korean leader Kim and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo,
Beijing`s top foreign policy official.
China has come under growing pressure to push North
Korea, its close ally, to change its behaviour after the
Communist country shelled a South Korean island late last
year, killing four people.
North Korea will be a key issue during Chinese
President Hu Jintao`s visit to Washington later this month.
PTI
