Resumption of six-party talks urged (AP/chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2006-07-16 14:04
China appealed Sunday for renewed six-nation North Korean disarmament talks
following a U.N. decision to sanction the North for its missile tests.
"We hope all parties concerned will take this as a turning point and make
joint efforts to resume six-nation talks as early as possible," Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement on the ministry Web site.
China joined U.N. Security Council members on Saturday in unanimously
approving the resolution, which demands that North Korea suspend its ballistic
missile program.
China is making tremendous efforts in a bid to ease the tension. Vice Premier
Hui Liangyu was heading a delegation on an official goodwill visit to the DPRK.
The envoys returned Saturday after reportedly receiving a message from North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il. If it addresses the missile tests, the message would
be Kim's first comment on the July 5 launches that caused an international
uproar.
North Korea has been boycotting the six-nation talks organized by China on
its nuclear ambitions, demanding that Washington lift sanctions imposed to
punish North Korean companies accused of weapons proliferation and other
offenses.
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