China urges restart of nuke talks

By Xie Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-01 09:55

China has repeated its call for the six parties of the Korean Peninsula nuclear talks to reopen discussions.

"We hope all the parties will proceed from the overall situation, and properly resolve relevant issues and make concerted efforts to maintain the Six-Party Talks," Foreign Ministry spokeswomen Jiang Yu said on Thursday.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Wednesday that it might conduct nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests unless the UN apologizes for criticizing its April 5 rocket launch, according to an AP report.

The DPRK attempted to launch what it said was a peaceful satellite from its base at Musundan-ri on the country's northeast coast on April 5.

Jiang noted that the possibility for Pyongyang to conduct a second nuclear test was "hypothetical".

She also reaffirmed that China would continue to play a constructive role in realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and ensuring peace and stability of Northeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Jiang also said the report that China is tightening visa checks ahead of the 60th National Day celebration on Oct 1 was groundless.

The Sydney Morning Herald said on Thursday that China appears to be introducing tight visa controls and security measures that could drastically reduce the capital's population before Oct 1, citing that foreigners applying for long-term business visas have met administrative bricks in the past fortnight.

In another development, Jiang said Vice-Premier Wang Qishan will attend the second Sino-European Union (EU) high-level trade and economic dialogue in Brussels from May 7-8 and pay an official visit to Britain from May 8-12.

Xinhua contributed to the story