US Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed Beijing to accept a Taiwanese offer of talks and urged China yesterday to exert its influence over North Korea to resume stalled talks on scrapping its nuclear weapons programs.
Powell, on the second leg of a trip to revive the six-way talks with Pyongyang, wants Beijing to push harder to secure a breakthrough and crown relations with Washington that he described as the best in 30 years.
"China has considerable influence with North Korea," Powell said at a news conference after meeting Chinese President Hu Jintao (
"I hope that as a result of our conversations, both of us will energize the other members of the the six-party framework to resolve the outstanding issues that keep us from setting a date for a meeting," he said.
Powell also raised sensitive bilateral issues.
On human rights, the two agreed to re-establish talks after what Powell called China's backsliding last year.
On Taiwan, Powell said he pushed China to keep an open mind and seize opportunities to hold talks to reduce tension.
"I particularly encouraged the Chinese leaders who I met with today to do everything they could to get into cross-strait dialogue in a more systematic and deliberate way," Powell said.
He sought to reduce tension between Taipei and Beijing by citing a speech by President Chen Sui-bian (
Chinese officials said they were unmoved by the speech and voiced concerns about Chen.
"The response that I received from the Chinese leadership today was that they are still concerned about President Chen Shui-bian's actions."
China also complained about US missile defense and submarine sales to Taiwan.
Powell said he "reinforced our total commitment to the one-power, `one China' policy" -- the US doctrine that doesn't endorse Taiwan independence.
But he also stressed that US law requires Washington to supply the nation's democratically elected government with weapons needed to defend itself.
"We will continue to meet our responsibilities," Powell said. "We very carefully balance responsibilities that we have to China and responsibilities that we have to Taiwan under our own domestic law."
Hu called on Powell for Washington to help curb "Taiwan independence forces," the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Hu said "opposition to `Taiwan independence' and curbing risky activities of `Taiwan independence' forces are in the common interests of both China and the United States," the report said.
Powell also pressed China to free a New York Times researcher arrested for passing state secrets to foreigns, but received the pointed response that the detainee was a Chinese citizen.
Powell is under pressure to revive the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program because Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry has criticized the Bush administration for failing to stop Pyongyang.
North Korea has threatened to double its deterrent and blocked a planned September round of the talks, that involve host China, North and South Korea, the US, Japan and Russia, after three earlier sessions made scant progress.
The US suspects North Korea is stalling in the hope Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry will win the Nov. 2 election and open bilateral talks that might lead to more US concessions.
Powell rejected North Korea's preconditions for a new round of talks, called it a "terrorist state" with "no respect whatsoever for human rights" and warned it not to get caught proliferating.
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