BEIJING - Chinese leader Xi Jinping told a North Korean envoy Friday that his country should return to diplomatic talks designed to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons, according to a staterun Chinese news agency.
“The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and lasting peace on the peninsula is what the people want and also the trend of the times,” Xi said in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People with Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, a personal envoy of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, the China News Service reported.
Choe, who has been in Beijing for three days on a mission to repair the relationship between North Korea and China, handed Xi a letter from Kim. The contents were not disclosed.
“The Chinese position is very clear: No matter how the situation changes, relevant parties should all adhere to the goal of denuclearization of the peninsula, persist in safeguarding its peace and stability and stick to solving problems through dialogue and consultation,” Xi said.
The Chinese leader calledfor resuming the six-party talks, a diplomatic effort among six countries, including China and the United States, that collapsed in 2008 when North Korea walked out.
U.S. experts on North Korea have said it is unlikely that North Korea will agree to the talks, largely because the United States and South Korea would insist on preconditions such as a pledge from North Korea that it would abandon its nuclear program.
The warning Friday from Xi follows a clear message the Chinese president delivered at a conference in April at Boao in southern China, when he said that “no one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfishgain.”
As the vice marshal proceeded through the standard meetings in Beijing with two senior Communist Party leaders, the usual conduit for relations between the two countries, and then a meeting with a senior Chinese military commander Friday, it remained unclear whether he would be accorded an audience with the Chinese president.
The meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People was announced after it occurred.
The erratic behavior of Kim and his approval of a third nuclear test in February has annoyed China, the North Korea’s biggest economic benefactor.
The meeting in Beijing took place a little more than two weeks before a meeting in California between President Barack Obama and the Chinese leader.
North Korea has requested meetings in Beijing for the past several months but has been rebuffed by the Chinese leadership, Chinese analysts said. It appeared that the Chinese relented after the announcement of the meeting between Xi and Obama, as the vice marshal then rushed to Beijing.
The belligerent actions of Kim since he rose to power more than a year ago have left an opening for China and the United States to act in concert on how to handle North Korea’s growing nuclear program.
North Korea will almost certainly be one of the top issues on the agenda at the meeting between Obama and Xi.
In an earlier encounter Friday with the vice marshal, a senior Chinese military commander delivered a message similar to Xi’s, suggesting that North Korea’s nuclear program was responsible for the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The remarks by Gen. Fan Changlong, a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, were unusually strong. They were devoid of any ritualistic references to the friendship between the allies.
“In recent years, the Korean Peninsula has frequently seen rapidly escalating tensions due to the Korean nuclear issue,” Fan was quoted as saying by the China News Service.
“Strategic differences between parties have been exacerbated, endangering thepeace and stability of the Korean Peninsula.”
On the first two days of his visit, Choe met with high-ranking officials of the Chinese Communist Party. His meeting with Fan was seen as part of the protocol of a visit by a high-ranking North Korean military official.
Fan appealed for “dialogue and consultation” and “unremitting efforts” toward peace.
In reply to Fan, the vice marshal was quoted as saying that North Korea was willing to “search for a way to solve problems with dialogue.”
A U.S. expert on North Korea said Friday that a resumption of the six-party talks that include China, the United States, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Russia was unlikely.
“There is no realistic prospect for any near-term resumption of diplomacy with Pyongyang,” said Jonathan Pollack, the author of a book on North Korea and its weapons program.
“But North Korean actions in recent months have enabled the most candid and realistic discussions between Washington and Beijing that have ever taken place.”
Front Section, Pages 8 on 05/25/2013