The US' top North Korea negotiator has denied that China is making its cooperation in defusing the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis conditional on US efforts to press Taipei into accepting Beijing's demands on Taiwan.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Christopher Hill, the top US negotiator to the six-party talks in Beijing, made his comment at a press briefing in Washington for the international media.
He was in Washington to report to the government after a recess in the fourth round of talks. A stalemate was reached over the weekend following Pyongyang's demands regarding its nuclear-power program.
Asked about speculation that China has linked the Korea and Taiwan issues, Hill issued a categorical denial.
"I've heard this issue about these, you know, tradeoffs with Taiwan, but I've only heard it in the media," he said in response to a reporter's question. "I have never ever -- and I've had numerous discussions with the Chinese about DPRK [North Korea] and the nuclear problem, and we have never mixed up the Taiwan issue," he said.
"Although, obviously, we've talked about the Taiwan issue many times, but never in connection with the DPRK's nuclear problem. So I can put that to rest right now," he said.
While there has been speculation for years about Beijing tying North Korea negotiations to the Taiwan issue, Beijing has not made any link explicit.
US officials have denied it, as have other specialists and sources in Washington over the years.
However, Hill's denial is the most authoritative and definitive to come from the administration.
In his position in the current six-party talks, and in his previous position as ambassador to South Korea, Hill has probably had more experience on the matter than anybody in Washington, and has probably talked with the Chinese leadership about the issue more than any other US official.
The latest round of talks broke down on Sunday when North Korea unexpectedly made a late demand for the right to operate light-water nuclear reactors, which US officials fear Pyongyang could use to develop nuclear weapons.
As a result, the talks are in a three-week recess after progressing for nearly two weeks. The talks could resume as soon as next month.
China and the US have regularly criticized each other for their actions -- or lack of action -- in bringing the nuclear issue to a resolution, but in the latest round of talks the atmosphere between the two nations was reported to be much more congenial.
Nevertheless, despite past criticism from Beijing, Washington sees Chinese cooperation as vital to any efforts to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. As a result, there has been persistent speculation that China has leaned on US officials for concessions on Taiwan as the price for cooperation on Korea.
Such speculation peaked during the end of 2003 and early last year, when US President George W. Bush and his administration adopted a decidedly unfriendly stance toward President Chen Shui-bian (
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