President Bush, trying to build international pressure on North Korea to return to high-stakes nuclear talks, won support from China on Friday for a tough U.S. approach. ``I believe you can never push too hard for a good purpose,'' said Kong Quan, chief spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He said the biggest barrier was ``the extreme, mutual distrust'' between Washington and Pyongyang. No time frame has been set for the resumption of negotiations, Quan said. The United States is pushing for early next year. Bush, who arrived here Friday night, will talk on Saturday with the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, his partners in negotiations to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. After three rounds of inconclusive talks, North Korea refused to attend a scheduled fourth session in September, reportedly because it wanted to see who would win the U.S. presidential election.
The North Korea discussions will take place on the sidelines of the annual 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Bush has maintained a no-concessions strategy for the resumption of talks. Bush is looking to his four partners in the talks to reinforce their demand for a nuclear-free peninsula and a resumption of disarmament talks. ``I think our focus again is going to be on convening a new round of six-party talks,'' said McCormack. ``All the five parties are on board with that idea - actively support moving forward.'' He said there was no word from North Korea about returning.
| Too busy at the One-Hour Photo trying to get some pics made up of the new leader. |
China and South Korea have expressed reservations about the talks or the direction of U.S. foreign policy. While supporting the U.S.-led war on terror, China worries about Washington's heightened presence in Central and South Asia, concerned that it threatens Chinese ambitions to be the region's undisputed military power. South Korea, meanwhile, is intent on continued engagement with the North and is nervous about U.S. pressure on the Pyongyang government. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki-moon, on the sidelines of the conference, and the two agreed on the importance of persuading North Korea to return to multinational talks on curtailing its nuclear ambitions, a senior U.S. State Department official said. The U.S. goal is to minimize talk of those issues and project a united front on efforts to draw North Korea back to the negotiating table, said a senior White House official, on condition of anonymity. The White House sees the gathering of all four of its partners in one place - especially coming so soon after Bush won re-election - as a key opportunity, the official said. |