U.S. and China Seek to Resume North Korea Talks
By THOM SHANKER and JOSEPH KAHN
nytimes.com
( Thank the Chinese - the chimp Nero and Mushroom Queen are just bystanders. WE aren't talking with NK - they're EVIL. )
BEIJING, Oct. 20 -- The United States and China spoke today in a unified voice to call for North Korea to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program, emphasizing hopes for a diplomatic solution to the standoff.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was told by the Chinese government that a special envoy sent by Beijing to North Korea had delivered "a strong message." And the Chinese foreign minister, standing beside Ms. Rice, pledged his nation’s commitment to breaking the stalemate over the North’s nuclear program. (Well, she DID stand right next to him!)
In language both used to address the North Korean leadership, Ms. Rice and Li Zhaoxing, China’s foreign minister, sounded as if they were reading if not from the same page at least from the same big script.
"We hope that all the relevant parties will maintain coolheadedness, adopt a prudent and responsible approach and adhere to dialogue and peaceful resolution as the general direction of our efforts," said Mr. Li.
"On our part, we are ready to maintain and continue to strengthen our consultation and cooperation with all the other parties to strive to break the stalemate as soon as possible and reconvene the six party talks," Mr. Li added.
Ms. Rice stressed that North Korea should return to those talks "without condition," and that financial restrictions would not be lifted just to entice the North back to the negotiations.
In comments to reporters later, Ms. Rice expressed confidence that China was committed to enforcing new United Nations sanctions on North Korea, and that a number of economic and trade measures were under review.
Asked specifically whether the Chinese were considering a halt to its life-sustaining oil supplies sent to North Korea, Ms. Rice said the Chinese government had told her it "will consider a whole host of measures."
As she neared the end of a fast-paced swing through Japan, South Korea and China, with a final stop in Moscow planned for the weekend, Ms. Rice said that creating a new, multilateral mechanism to halt North Korea’s trade in nuclear bomb-making materials and missiles would take time, and she emphasized that "this is an early trip."
The six-nation talks over North Korea’s nuclear program ended in stalemate after multiple rounds in 2004 and 2005. Mr. Kim ignored Chinese pressure to return to the bargaining table, and raised tensions in the region by conducting a missile test in July and the nuclear test on Oct. 9.
Some Chinese experts say they hope Mr. Kim, emboldened by becoming the world’s latest nuclear power, may be eager to resume negotiations and see what kind of price he can extract from the outside world in exchange for slowing or scrapping his nuclear program now.
But others here doubt he has any intention of rolling back the nuclear program, the culmination of an enormously expensive effort begun by Mr. Kim’s father, Kim Il-sung, after the Korean War.
Both Japan and South Korea have warned that they detected signs Mr. Kim may be preparing a second nuclear test, a event that both the United States and China say would trigger a new and harsher set of sanctions on the already isolated country.
There were mixed signs today about the potential for resuming talks. Mr. Kim on Thursday met Tang Jiaxuan, a Chinese state councilor and an emissary of President Hu Jintao. China did not publicly reveal the substance of the talks in Pyongyang beyond saying they were "in-depth" and "greatly significant."
But the prominent coverage given Mr. Tang’s mission in China’s state-controlled media today suggested that Beijing considered the results of the trip worth publicizing.
Mr. Tang also met Ms. Rice today and was quoted by state media as calling the results of his talks with Mr. Kim "positive."
A South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, citing diplomatic sources in China, reported today that Mr. Kim had offered to return to six-party talks. But the report said he reiterated a demand that the United States first drop unilateral financial sanctions that the Treasury Department imposed last year to crack down on suspected drug running and counterfeiting by North Korean interests.
"If the U.S. makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks," Mr. Kim was quoted as saying by the Chosen Ilbo.
The newspaper also said Mr. Kim "expressed regret" for the nuclear test. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Ms. Rice, however, said that her Chinese hosts made no mention of any expression of regret by Mr. Kim in his meeting with the envoy from Beijing.
The Bush administration maintains that financial penalties should have no direct relationship with the nuclear talks and has declined to lift the threat of sanctions against some banks that do business with North Korea as the price for resuming negotiations.
It is unclear whether a conditional offer to return to talks will persuade China to reduce pressure on Pyongyang.
At a minimum, President Hu may be eager to show supporters of North Korea in his own country that China has continued to reach out to the North Korea leader and give him ample opportunity to negotiate his way out of the nuclear crisis.
The risk for the United States is that China may soften its stance if it perceives that the Bush administration, rather than Mr. Kim, is throwing up obstacles to resuming talks.
Mr. Kim has pushed to hold one-on-one negotiations with the United States, but the Bush administration has refused to negotiate with North Korea outside the context of six-party talks. China has urged President Bush to authorize bilateral talks, but he has declined to do so.
Even so, Chinese scholars who have held discussions with Chinese leaders on the North Korea situation say that the North’s missile and nuclear tests, which were conducted despite stern and explicit warnings from China, had pushed Beijing to adopt a new and significantly less accommodating approach to managing relations with its neighbor and one-time ally.
China twice backed United Nations sanctions against North Korea and has since then indicated internally that it may be prepared to impose a range of unilateral sanctions if Mr. Kim continues to develop his nuclear program.
The leadership, the scholar said, is prepared to reduce low-cost oil supplies to North Korea in the event that it conducts more nuclear tests or refuses to return to talks, a step that could cripple the country’s already weak economy.
China has also imposed limited restrictions on banking transactions with North Korea, especially in the trading post of Dandong on the North Korean border, bankers there say. Customs inspectors at the border have begun to inspect cargo shipments into and out of North Korea.
Chinese analysts said that they were not surprised that Mr. Kim would seek to blunt international solidarity against him. But they said they doubted he would be prepared to bargain in earnest about dismantling his nuclear program.
"I have to say I am very pessimistic about the prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough," said Zhu Feng, a senior international affairs scholar and arms control expert at Beijing University. "The talks have to be given a chance but I see no signs that Kim has undergone a sudden change of heart."
Mr. Zhu said he also doubts that China has much patience left for inconclusive negotiations or "tricks" that North Korea might play to buy time.
"I don’t think our leaders are prepared to tolerate him much longer," Mr. Zhu said. "My feeling is that they are prepared to implement harsher penalties and will have to proceed with them before long."
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