Deputy US Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrived in China
for a visit that the US embassy said would focus on the year-long
North Korean nuclear crisis and Iraq reconstruction.
Armitage, who traveled from Japan, told reporters that the
United States was "extraordinarily grateful" to China for its
efforts to organize six-nation talks on the nuclear issue, and
hoped there would be a new round next month.
"February is a possibility," he said in his Beijing hotel,
adding later, "February is great month."
"The answer to this question lies in Pyongyang, not here," he
said.
Armitage is due to hold talks with Chinese foreign ministry
officials Friday before leaving for Mongolia early Saturday for the
third and last leg of his trip, a US embassy spokeswoman said.
"They are going to talk about bilateral issues covering a broad
range of mutual interests including North Korea and Iraq
reconstruction," she said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Thursday
at a press conference that Chinese vice-foreign ministers Dai
Bingguo and Zhou Wenzhong will meet with Armitage and exchange
views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
China has been working closely with Washington to try to diffuse
tensions over the North Korean nuclear plans.
China has been trying to convene a second round of six-nation
talks on a 15-month crisis over North Korea's nuclear program,
after a first round made little headway in Beijing in August.
The United States revealed last week it had made a rare direct
call to North Korea in a bid to convene a second round of the
six-party talks, which were expected in December but never
happened.
North Korea offered recently to freeze its nuclear weapons drive
in return for concessions, including an end to US sanctions and a
resumption of energy aid.
Washington is holding out for a commitment from Pyongyang to
scrap its nuclear program.
(China Daily January 30, 2004)