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China blames US for the impasse in talks with N Korea

China said yesterday US policy on North Korea was the biggest obstacle to resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, but expressed confidence the North wanted to work for a peaceful solution.

Asked by reporters what he thought was the main obstacle to progress, China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅), said: "The American policy towards DPRK -- this is the main problem we are facing."

North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), had said its expectations at last week's talks also involving China, Japan, Russia and South Korea had been "betrayed" by "hostile" US policy.

North Korea also described the discussions as "pointless" and threw into doubt its participation at the next round of talks.

Wang, the chief Chinese delegate at the talks in Beijing last week, is accompanying China's number two leader Wu Bangguo (吳邦國) to an Asian parliamentary meeting in Manila.

Washington has reportedly rejected Pyongyang's demand for a non-aggression pact and other concessions as a precondition to dismantling its nuclear programs.

Wang indicated yesterday that Washington might have to make its position on North Korea more clear.

"We want the US to make clear about its position," he said when asked to elaborate his view that Washington and Pyongyang could still finally resolve their differences through compromise.

"We hope each party, including the US and DPRK, move together so we can find the final solution," he said.

Wang said North Korea might be dissatisfied with the discussions in Beijing but that it was keen to resolve the dispute through peaceful means.

"They may not be so satisfied but they also want to continue the peace process," he said. "So what we are going to do is see how we can narrow the difference and how we can enlarge our common consensus, common ground."

Asked to comment on what one journalist described as Washington's "hardline" position, Wang said: "This is the first round of talks. So, I don't think this is the final position of each side.

"The purpose of the first round of negotiations is to know each other, know each other's basic position."

He said last week's talks were "just the beginning" of what "might be a long, long" process.

Washington has been adamant that the Stalinist state's nuclear program must be dismantled before it will consider economic assistance and diplomatic normalization for the bankrupt country.
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