U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left shaking hands Chinese officials as U.S. ambassador to China, Clark T. Randt, center looks on after her arrival at the Beijing airport, China, Saturday, July 9, 2005. China is the first stop for Rice on a four-nation East Asia swing that is aimed primarily at finding ways to encourage North Korea to end a year-long boycott of multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
By Carol Giacomo
July 9, 2005
BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets senior Chinese officials on Sunday after North Korea agreed to return to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program after a break of more than a year.
Rice and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing are to make a joint statement on the talks after a meeting on Sunday.
A U.S. official said North Korea, once branded by Washington as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and pre-war Iraq, had promised it would attend with the goal of making progress at the talks -- which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The U.S. official said Pyongyang was promised no new U.S. inducements to return to the bargaining table but it appeared both sides had softened or dropped some earlier demands.
On Sunday, Rice is also expected to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, Xinhua news agency said.
In Washington, the White House said it welcomed North Korea's agreement to return to the discussions.
"We are pleased that North Korea is coming back to the talks with a commitment to a denuclearised peninsula," said spokeswoman Dana Perino. "We look forward to making progress in the six-party talks toward that goal."
The KCNA news agency said Pyongyang decided to reopen the talks after North Korea's vice-minister of foreign affairs, Kim Kye-gwan, met U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Christopher Hill in Beijing on Saturday.
"Both sides agreed to open the fourth round of the six-party talks in the week which begins on July 25, 2005," KCNA said.
The United States confirmed the timing and said Pyongyang promised it would attend with the goal of making progress. Three previous rounds have been inconclusive.
Reviving the talks has become more urgent because of concerns Pyongyang has expanded its nuclear capabilities to eight or more weapons, up from one or two weapons when President Bush came to office.
Since the last round of talks in Beijing in June 2004, Pyongyang had demanded that any new round have an expanded focus on broader disarmament issues, not just the North's nuclear programs.
But the U.S. official said Pyongyang had reaffirmed the narrower focus, adding: "That's encouraging."
He acknowledged that whether the North is really prepared to negotiate away its nuclear weapons remained a big question.
North Korea in June signaled it would return to the talks this month if Washington showed respect, including apologising for Rice describing the North as an "outpost of tyranny."
The United States dismissed that as a stalling tactic but had toned down its rhetoric and reiterated that it recognized the North as a sovereign state and had no intention to invade.