China rejects Powell's proposals on N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- Chinese officials rebuffed a U.S. proposal Monday for a regional coalition to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program and told Secretary of State Colin Powell that direct talks between the United States and North Korea hold the best hope for resolving the dispute.

After his talks in Beijing, Powell flew to South Korea for today's inauguration of President-elect Roh Moo-hyun, also an advocate of U.S. negotiations with North Korea. Roh, who favors reconciliation with Pyongyang, also says he would not support any U.S. plan to attack North Korea.

Today, Powell is expected to announce a major donation of U.S. food to the North Korean people, many of whom are believed to suffer severe famine-induced malnutrition.

North Korea and Iraq dominated separate meetings Powell held with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, Vice President Hu Jintao and President Jiang Zemin.

The discussions on Iraq were inconclusive. China favors continued U.N. inspections in Iraq as opposed to a second U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize military action should Iraq refuse to disarm. The United States and Britain are to propose the resolution on Tuesday.

Left unclear from Powell's talks in Beijing was whether China would veto a second resolution if it should come to a council vote.

On North Korea, Powell has pushed for a multilateral effort to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program for weeks, with scant results.

At a news conference Monday, the American said the North Korean weapons issue "is a matter for China, it's a matter for South Korea, it's a matter for Japan, it's a matter for Russia, and it's a matter for the United Nations."

He added that the United States feels strongly that "North Korea's actions pose a threat to regional stability and to the global nonproliferation regime."

Hoping for 'equal' talks

Chinese state television quoted Tang, the foreign minister, as saying that China hopes for talks on the nuclear issue between the United States and North Korea "on an equal basis."

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua, meanwhile, reported that Vice President Hu made the same point and said U.S. talks with North Korea should begin soon.

North Korea itself has long advocated direct discussions with Washington that would lead to a nonaggression treaty.

Powell has said direct talks in 1994 resulted in a promise by Pyongyang to forgo nuclear weapons, which he said the communist government has since violated. Only much broader international participation has a chance of producing a satisfactory outcome, he has said.

U.S. government analysts fear that North Korea, left unchecked, could have six plutonium-based nuclear weapons in a few months, possibly leading to a destabilizing regional arms race. Among countries in the area, only Japan has sided with the United States in its call for international negotiations.

China says it favors a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, but U.S. officials complain that Beijing has done little to achieve that objective.

The one bright spot for the United States on the North Korean problem was the Feb. 13 decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer North Korea's nuclear ambitions to the United Nations.

The action fit nicely with the U.S. view that Pyongyang's actions are a global concern. Administration officials said last week, however, that it is doubtful the Security Council will take a strong stand because of opposition from Russia.

In Beijing, Powell said China is eager to play a positive role in helping to quiet misgivings about Pyongyang's weapons programs. China is undertaking initiatives with North Korea, Powell said, that he was unable to discuss publicly.

Powell has said that China is uniquely positioned to influence North Korea because it is by far Pyongyang's largest aid donor.

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On the Net: State Department's nonproliferation desk: http://www.state.gov/t/np/