The Hindu : Chinese Minister holds talks with North Korean leader

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2003

International

International

Chinese Minister holds talks with North Korean leader

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE July 15. China's Vice-Foreign Minister and special envoy, Dai Bingguo, has held talks in Pyongyang with the North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong-il, and their "in-depth discussion'' covered "issues of mutual concern''.

Today's disclosure on these lines by China and the official version by North Korea were clearly indicative of a heightened catalytic role that Beijing has begun to play to accelerate the ongoing international process of peacefully resolving the issues concerning Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons `programme'. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or the North) as also the U.S. and China are engaged in the ongoing "Beijing process'' of trilateral talks on Pyongyang's nuclear posture. The talks centre on Washington's diplomatic profiling of the DPRK as a `proliferator' outside the pale of international law.

Pyongyang's prime contention is that its U.S.-specific nuclear-deterrence `programme' is in no way an infraction of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the DPRK has dissociated itself from. The Chinese spokesman, Kong Quan, did not confirm, at a briefing in Beijing today that Mr. Dai's mission to Pyongyang was aimed at exploring the possibility of holding multilateral parleys that could include South Korea as also Japan and possibly Russia too.

The DPRK said Mr. Dai "courteously'' handed over a personal letter from the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, to Mr. Kim who, in turn, engaged the special envoy from Beijing in significant talks in a "cordial and friendly atmosphere''.

The political message was that the latest China-DPRK talks touched on the "issue'' between Washington and Pyongyang on its nuclear profile. Mr. Dai's four-day mission, which ended today, has acquired unusual importance in the context of the recent efforts by South Korea, in conjunction with the U.S., to step up pressure on the DPRK to give up its nuclear-weapons `programme'.

Mr. Dai met several key North Korean leaders besides Mr. Kim. China chose to conduct its latest sensitive diplomatic intervention by playing all the cards close to its chest, insofar as the ringside observers on the international stage were concerned. However, China today reaffirmed its primary objectives, which were sought to be promoted through the Dai mission and by other means. These pertain to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue, the sustainability of the peninsula as a nuclear-weapons-free zone and the maintenance of stability in that region that borders China. The personal message from Mr. Hu to Mr. Kim should be seen in this context of China's efforts to avoid a nuclear confrontation on the Korean peninsula.

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