US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice concluded her three-day visit to East Asia on Friday. Analysts here say her visit was aimed to help the White House to get out of the current embarrassment resulted from its isolated foreign policy and help President George W. Bush to be reelected in the November election.

Rice's three-nation trip -- Japan, China and South Korea -- came at a time when the third round of six-party talks, designed to settle the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, ended with some progress, and the US-led coalition forces handed over sovereignty to the Iraqi interim government.

The United States and the three countries visited by Rice are all participants in the six-party talks, which also involve the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Russia. The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula centered the talks between Rice and leaders of the host countries.

"For the United States, the nuclear issue is an urgent one, and we are focusing on how to get the North (DPRK) to give up its nuclear programs," Rice was quoted as telling Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Thursday in Tokyo.

China, as host of the six-party talks, has put out the general goal, direction and way to peacefully solve the issue, and played a role of mediating, according to Wang Yi, a senior Chinese official who headed the Chinese delegation in the last round of the six-party talks which ended last month.

With the efforts from China, the great frameworks of three-party talks, which involve China, the DPRK and the United States, and six-party talks have been formed and become a continuous process. Beijing has been the venue where the talks were held.

China is an important leg of Rice's trip. The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula was on top of the agenda.

The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula flared up in November 2002 when the United States announced the suspension of heavy oil deliveries to the DPRK after accusing Pyongyang of developing an "enriched uranium" program in violation of the DPRK-US Agreed Framework adopted in 1994.

However, the great differences among the participants in the six-party talks have forced the White House to move from its wishful thinking to a more realistic approach, namely to keep the existing face-to-face talks going on within the framework of six-party talks.

It is obvious that the United States wants to make sure that there is no serious confrontation in East Asia before its general election slated for November so as to pave the way for President Bush's victory in the election.

The next round of six-party talks is scheduled for September. Rice also wanted to get China's commitment to continuing to play a key role in the maintenance of the stability in East Asia.

Another important task for the top security aide to visit China is to exchange views with Chinese leaders over the Taiwan issue.

US leading newspaper Washington Post on Friday quoted an unidentified senior US official as saying that Rice wanted to make sure that the Chinese leadership is clear about the Bush

administration's commitment to having strong relations with China, despite their differences on some issues including human rights and trade.

The official said Rice reaffirmed the US position that it did not support the independence for Taiwan and opposed unilateral action by either side to change the status quo across the Taiwan Straits.

Local observers say the Bush administration, which has tasted bitterness from its unilateralism, may seek a way out by turning to the United Nations.

For this purpose, the United States is eager to get help from China, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Source: Xinhua