China said Tuesday that North
Korea had agreed to help prevent any
escalation of tensions with the South and had a "positive attitude"
about the resumption of talks aimed at ending its nuclear drive.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters that officials in Pyongyang had expressed
that view during a visit last week by State Councillor Dai Bingguo, who met
with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
That trip came amid high tensions between the two Koreas sparked when the North
shelled a South Korean island on Nov. 23, killing four people including two
civilians.
"The two sides believe that all parties should keep calm and exercise
restraint, take a responsible attitude to avoid further escalation of tensions
and play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability," Jiang
said.
The two sides "will continue to push forward the six-party talks process
committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula (and) realizing the
normalization of state-to-state relations among countries involved," she
said.
The spokeswoman said North Korea "has taken a positive attitude" on a
resumption of the stalled negotiations bringing together the two Koreas, China,
Japan, Russia
and the U.S.
Beijing has been under renewed pressure to rein in its ally Pyongyang in the
wake of the deadly shelling.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan
gave the cold shoulder to a Chinese proposal for emergency six-way
negotiations, saying North
Korea must demonstrate its commitment to
change first.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg is to visit Beijing
this week to press for stronger action from China.
Regional tensions also spiked after Pyongyang
disclosed a new uranium enrichment program that has further sparked fears it
could produce more material to make nuclear bombs.
Russia's
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a meeting Monday in Moscow
with his visiting North Korean counterpart Pak Ui Chun, expressed "deep
concern" about the new capability and urged Pyongyang to comply with U.N. Security
Council resolutions banning its nuclear activities.
In Beijing,
Jiang said: "As for the uranium enrichment program, we hold that parties
should implement relevant U.N. resolutions and take a responsible attitude to
carry out international obligations."