Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi urged in Beijing on Wednesday that concerned parties exercise restraints on the situation of Northeast Asia and not to take actions that destabilized regional peace.
With increasing uncertainties, the situations of the Korea Peninsula and Northeast Asia are complicated and sensitive, said Yang in his meeting with foreign ministers of East Asia Summit. He added that to break the stalemate and to stabilize regional situation are common hopes of relevant parties.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a nuclear test in May and later fired several ballistic missiles on June 4, raising international concerns over regional security.
The UN Security Council adopted on June 12 Resolution 1874 that allowed wider sanctions against the DPRK on the issue of its nuclear test. The DPRK has rejected the resolution and announced it has quit the cease-fire agreement of the Korean War and the Six- Party Talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Yang also called on concerned parties to make concerted efforts in re-launching the six-party talks and pushing the resolving of the DPRK issue back to means of dialogue.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday urged the DPRK to fully comply with its obligations and relevant UNSC resolutions.
"We also urged all concerned parties to return to the six-party talks process as soon as possible and fully implement their commitments made in previous rounds of the six-party talks, which remains the main mechanism for achieving peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula," said a joint communique of the 42nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.
"We believed that the ASEAN Regional Forum, which includes the ASEAN and all participants of the six-party talks, can play a positive and proactive role in promoting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula. We encouraged all concerned parties to actively pursue this objective," added the joint communique.
The ASEAN Regional Forum will be held on Thursday with the participation of a DPRK official.
The Chinese Foreign Minister also met with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna Wednesday.
China attached great importance to China-India strategic co- operative partnership and strived to work with India to build up mutual trust and enhance cooperation in various areas, Yang said.
The bilateral trade volume between India and China exceeded 50 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, with China becoming India's largest trade partner.
In his meeting with Hirofumi Nakasone, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Yang said at the same time China and Japan were facing increasing shared challenges, their shared interests also grew.
China and Japan should enhance communication and cooperation to push forward the strategic beneficiary relations, Yang said.
The Chinese foreign minister also met with Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2009)
