China urges early resumption of six-party talks
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?China on Tuesday urged relevant parties to seize the current situation of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and create conditions to restart the long-stalled six-party talks.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula has recently shown signs of easing and relevant parties are gradually conducting interactions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular news briefing.
"We hope all parties involved can take advantage of the current opportunities, have contact and dialogue in all forms and create conditions for resuming the six-party talks at an early date," Hong said.
Hong made the remarks when asked to comment on the U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner's view that a successful inter-Korea rapprochement was an essential first step to restart the six-party talks.
A flurry of diplomatic activities has been going on recently, involving the U.S., China, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Seoul late Saturday for talks with ROK officials. Both sides agreed to continue cooperation on the peninsula's nuclear issue.
China has also conducted contact with other sides and held in-depth discussions on resuming six-party talks.
ROK Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said during his China trip that the six-party talks was "an important mechanism to realize peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia" and urged relevant parties to make the talks substantial, if they resumed.
The DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan visited China last week at the invitation of Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, and held talks with several senior diplomats, including Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
Hong said it was in the common interests of all parties to implement the September 19 Joint Statement in a comprehensive and balanced way, realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, and maintain lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia.
He urged all parties to engage in dialogue as soon as possible, build trust and find proper solutions to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
The six-party talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, ROK, Russia and Japan, began in 2003. Six rounds of talks were held before stalling in December 2008.
