International   

China calls for dialogue with U.S.

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Jan. 9. China today raised its profile as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and pronounced itself categorically on North Korea and Iraq, the two major global issues of strategic concern. The ongoing visit to Beijing by the Foreign Minister of France, another permanent member of the U.N., served as the backdrop for China's latest burst of activism as regards these sensitive issues.

Beijing made its stand clear in the other related context, too, of a telephonic conversation between the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and his Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan, on these matters. On North Korea, China called for "a direct dialogue'' between Pyongyang and Washington as "the best way'' to bring about a de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Outlining this stand during a conversation with the French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, Mr. Tang underlined that the ``framework agreement'', which the U.S. and North Korea had reached in 1994, ``should be maintained and (it should) continue to be carried out''.

Mr. Tang had, separately, told Gen. Powell that China was appreciative of Washington's latest mood of willingness to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue. Beijing's `hope', it was said, was that the U.S. would adopt "flexible methods'' in any parleys with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or the North) on this nuclear puzzle. China has clearly drawn a distinction between the DPRK's ambitions of making and deploying nuclear weapons, on one side, and the question of Iraq being disarmed of its capabilities to produce and deploy all categories of weapons of mass destruction.

Beijing's perception on the differential aspects of these two issues was brought into a sharp focus during the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin's talks with Mr. Villepin and during the separate discussions between the latter and Mr. Tang. According to Mr. Jiang, the next move towards the resolution of the current Iraq tangle should be decided by the U.N. Security Council on the basis of opinion from all parties concerned. In his view, Iraq was "generally cooperative'' with the international community after the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1441 which provided for a way forward towards the objective of dispossessing Iraq of its nuclear-armament capabilities. The Chinese President noted further that the ongoing mission of the international weapons inspectors in Iraq should be "continued'' so that the issue could be clarified. The work of the U.N. inspectors in Iraq should be supported, the Chinese leader said. On North Korea, Mr. Jiang said China fully endorsed "the non-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula''.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• `Tit-for-tat test' by Pak. likely
• China calls for dialogue with U.S.
• Colombo suggestion averted breakdown of talks
• U.S. steps up pressure on Russia
• Colombo, LTTE to work out rights schedule
• `History in the making'
• Police grope for clues in poison scare case
• New millennium mobile phones are here

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu