In what could be a test for US-Chinese relations, US Secretary of State Colin Powell will ask officials here for a more robust effort to persuade North Korea to curb its suspected nuclear weapons programs, a senior US official said yesterday.
Powell arrived here late yesterday afternoon from Tokyo and has separate talks planned Monday with President Jiang Zemin (
Besides the discussions on North Korea, Powell is expected to urge China not to veto a joint US-British bid for UN Security Council approval for a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. Until now, China has favored a continuation of UN inspections in Iraq. The resolution will be tabled on Monday.
In Tokyo yesterday, Powell said that time was running out on UN demands for Iraq to disarm. He also has said the clock is ticking on the North Korea issue as well -- an apparent reference to the prospect that Pyongyang could be months away from having as many as six plutonium-based nuclear weapons.
Powell sees international pressure against North Korea, with China playing a leading role, as the best hope for inducing Pyongyang to drop its nuclear ambitions.
But thus far China has seemed reluctant to use its influence against its long-time ally, a major recipient of Chinese assistance.
In reference to North Korea, Powell told reporters accompanying him on Friday: "Time is passing, and we're trying to use that time to the maximum, but at the same time, we're not going to let time become a weapon to be used against us."
Powell told a congressional hearing two weeks ago that China is key to a peaceful outcome of the conflict over North Korea.
"China has a role to play, and I hope China will play that role," Powell said.
As his meetings here approached, Powell and his aides have been less assertive in public about what they expect from China.
En route here from Tokyo, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters that Powell "looks forward to considering with the Chinese how to build on their existing efforts with North Korea."
A senior official, asking not to be identified, was more blunt: "We want China to do more," he said.
Boucher noted that China supported a successful move in the International Atomic Energy Agency recently to refer the North Korean nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.
That move was warmly welcomed by the Bush administration because it tended to highlight global concern over the issue, undercutting Pyongyang's insistence that North Korea and the US should address the issue one-on-one.
Powell rejects that proposal on grounds that a US-North Korea agreement in 1994 that held out the promise of a nuclear-free North Korea has collapsed because of violations by Pyongyang.
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