China reaffirms stand on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue

China has always firmly supported the realization of a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula although it does not have information about nuclear weapon development in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing on June 9.

"China hopes the six-party talks process will proceed to this objective," Liu said in a reply to a reporter's question at a routine press conference.

Liu said that the reopening of the six-party talks is the common aspiration of all parties concerned and the international community.

China was "delighted" to see that DPRK and US officials met twice in New York and the DPRK expressed its desire to return to the talks.

The DPRK informed the United States that it is willing to resume the six-party talks, but did not specify a date, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday after the two sides' meeting in New York.

Liu stressed that the issue on achieving a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsular is highly complex and extremely difficult to be solved.

However, the spokesman expressed the hope that the talks will be resumed as soon as possible. The concerns, questions and considerations from the relevant parties will be presented under the framework of six-party talks and gradually resolved by reaching a consensus through consultations.

Liu said that China realized from the first day dealing with the Korean nuclear issue that it would be a hard, long-term process to address the issue, and twists and turns were very likely to appear in the process of resolving the issue.

"Despite how complex and how hard the issue is, all the parties concerned have expressed over and over again of their willingness to make efforts to achieve the goal.

"If they really make sincere and good-will efforts in a pragmatic and constructive way, the process will move on anyway although sometimes it is quite slowly," Liu said.

The spokesman called on the concerned parties to make more efforts to resume the talks as soon as possible since the DPRK and the US had already made positive contacts.

China and the DPRK have kept normal and effective contacts and consultations on various bilateral and international issues including the Korean nuclear issue, Liu said.

Source: Xinhua