Beijing: US Secretary of State Colin Powell on started an intensive round of talks
with Chinese leaders to persuade Beijing to support Washington's efforts to disarm
Iraq as well as North Korea of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Powell, on the second stop of an Asian trip, is expected to urge China not to veto a
second US-sponsored resolution at the UN Security Council that would authorise use
of force to disarm Iraq of its WMD and topple its President, Saddam Hussein,
diplomatic sources here said.
China, in tune with Russia and France, has favoured continued UN weapons
inspections in Iraq saying all options under the UN Resolution 1,441 have not yet
been exhausted.
On North Korea's nuclear issue, a topic that has caused serious concern in Japan and
South Korea, Powell is expected to urge China, Pyongyang's ally, to use its
diplomatic and economic clout to the maximum so that the reclusive communist nation
would curb its secret nuclear weapons programme.
Powell is currently holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan and he
would also call on Chinese President Jiang Zemin as well as his deputy Hu Jintao,
official sources said.
The Security Council, he said, has taken a clear stand in 1,441, and it now faces a
clear choice: "With all the world watching, the Council will now show whether it
means what it says."
From Beijing, Powell will go to South Korea for the February 25 inauguration of
President-elect Roh Moo-Hyun.
Earlier on February 23, in Tokyo, Powell said time was running out on demands by UN
for Iraq to disarm. He also has said the clock is ticking on the North Korea problem.
Powell said China could force North Korea to renounce its nuclear weapons programme.
China had asked US and North Korea to resume dialogue soon to ensure a nuclear-free
Korean peninsula.
PTI
