Opening ceremonies for the third round of six-party talks on the
Korean Peninsula nuclear issue will be held at 3 pm today at the
Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in downtown Beijing.
Delegations from China, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK),
Russia and Japan will participate in the four-day talks.
Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will stick to its
position and try to promote dialogue.
China expects all parties, especially the major parties, to show
their sincerity and flexibility and find a reasonable solution
acceptable to all as soon as possible.
On the eve of the talks, Wang said the six parties have taken
three major steps so far.
He said the goal of building a nuclear-weapon-free Korean
Peninsula has been established.
The DPRK has explicitly expressed its willingness to abandon its
nuclear programmes and proposed freezing nuclear facilities as the
first step.
Wang said all other parties have been committed to solving the
reasonable security concerns of the DPRK.
He said the six countries are moving towards solving the issue
through peaceful dialogue and formed the six-party talks
mechanism.
The first round of the six-party talks was held in Beijing from
August 26 to 28 last year. The parties agreed to establish a
working group mechanism during a second round of talks in late
February.
The first working group meeting was held in Beijing from May 12
to 15, and the participants confirmed the new round of talks would
be held before the end of June, as scheduled.
They had a frank and pragmatic exchange of views on the
nuclear-weapon issue, security guarantees and measures for a
nuclear freeze. Wang said they started to touch on substantial
issues with the establishment of the working groups, gradually
deepening the talks.
He said the parties believe the way to solve the nuclear issue
is to take coordinated steps and solve the issue by the mode of
"word to word" and "action to action," meaning relevant parties
make concessions and promises on reciprocal basis.
The parties attending the second working group meeting agreed to
hold discussions on freezing nuclear programs as the first step, an
official with the ROK delegation said yesterday.
The official said that all the five parties spoke highly of
China's role at the end of the two-day second working group meeting
yesterday morning, which was held in a sincere atmosphere.
Wang, who heads the Chinese delegation, met with Russian
Ambassador at Large Alexander Alexeyev, head of the Russian
delegation, and Kim Kye-gwan, head of the delegation of the DPRK
and DPRK deputy foreign minister, as well as Lee Soo-Hyuck, head of
the ROK delegation and ROK's deputy minister of foreign affairs and
trade yesterday afternoon for bilateral discussions.
The heads for the delegation from the other two parties are US
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs of
the United States James Kelly and Director-General of the Asian and
Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry Mitoji
Yabunaka.
Wang said the Chinese delegation will participate in the third
round of talks with the unwavering goals of building a
nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, peacefully solving the issue
through dialogue and firm determination to safeguard the peace and
stability of the peninsula.
He said China will consolidate the hard-won consensus among the
parties in previous talks, conduct active mediation and promote
progress in a stable way.
Wang said difficulties lie in the long existing hostility and
mistrust and the complexity of the issue itself.
He said the issue intertwines with the normalization of ties
between related countries, the establishment of a peace mechanism
on the peninsula and some factors in the domestic situation of some
countries.
Wang said that the talks have started focusing on substantial
issues and have entered the most difficult stage.
(China Daily June 23, 2004)