Democratic People's Republic of Korea's leader Kim Jong Il met
with Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, in Pyongyang Thursday morning, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Thursday.
Tang, who arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, conveyed Hu's
message to Kim during the meeting, Liu said, without revealing the
content of the message. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of
views on China-DPRK relations and the current situation on the
Korean Peninsula, Liu said.
"The meeting was of great significance and was extremely
important for bilateral ties and the current situation on the
peninsula," Liu told reporters.
Prior to his arrival in the DPRK, Tang also visited the United
States and Russia, meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tang, who left Beijing on October 11, was accompanied by Dai
Bingguo, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Wu Dawei, vice
minister of foreign affairs.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the
DPRK conducted an underground nuclear test on Oct. 9.
The United Nations Security Council on October 14 unanimously
adopted a resolution imposing sanctions against the DPRK for its
nuclear test. Liu said the resolution was a "balanced" one and all
parties should enforce it in a "balanced way" without expanding
sanctions at will.
"The resolution should be carried out in a practical and careful
manner to send a message to DPRK that the nuclear test is a
wrongful action which is opposed by the international community and
that the DPRK should return to the six-party talks as soon as
possible," said Liu.
He added that the important task at hand was to promote the
early resumption of the six-party talks.
Liu noted that as a member state of the UN and a permanent
member of the UN Security Council, China will take necessary
measures and adopt a suitable mechanism to strictly carry out the
commitments in the resolution. He added that China would not do
anything that contravened the resolution.
Responding to reports that claimed the six-party talks process
is likely to end following the nuclear test, Liu said China was
still "full of hope" that the talks could be resumed.
"As all parties consider the six-party talks to be an effective
way to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and are willing
to return to the talks under the right conditions, the six-party
talks have not ended," said Liu, adding that China has been making
unremitting efforts for their resumption.
Liu called on all related parties to avoid steps that would
further worsen the chances of resuming the talks.
Responding to reports that claimed China would offer food and
energy aid to the DPRK, Liu said China had offered aid to the DPRK
for many years to improve the lives of the DPRK people and help the
country overcome difficulties in its economy.
"We think this is the correct policy, which helps improve the
humanitarian situation in DPRK," said Liu.
He also denied the connection between illegal immigration from
DPRK to China and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, saying China
and the DPRK have taken joint measures to prevent illegal
immigration.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in Beijing
this morning to discuss the Korean Peninsular situation with
Chinese leaders.
Liu said China hoped to have in-depth discussions with Rice on
how to resolve the current situation in the Korean Peninsula and
promote the realization of a nuclear-free Peninsula through
dialogues and negotiations.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)
