The third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula
nuclear issue has forged new steps for reaching the goal of
denuclearization, and progress has been made in five aspects, Wang
Yi, the Chinese delegation head to the talks, said after the
four-day talks ended.??
The third round of six-party talks, participated in by China,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United
States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, concluded in
Beijing Saturday morning.
Wang Yi, also Chinese vice foreign minister, told a press
conference at noon that the third round of talks has reached new
consensus based on the consolidation of the previous
achievements.
Wang said the first progress is that all the relevant parties
have offered proposals and plans for the solution to the nuclear
issue.
According to Wang, the DPRK expressed its willingness to give up
all nuclear weapon-related programs in a transparent way, and
stressed that the freeze of the nuclear programs was the first step
for the abandonment of the nuclear programs and it would accept
inspection. The DPRK also offered specific plans on launching the
freeze program for the first time.
The United States reiterated it would not pursue a hostile
policy toward the DPRK and offered, for the first time,
comprehensive proposals for resolving the nuclear issue in an
all-round way, he said.
While the ROK put forward specific plans on the first steps for
abandoning the nuclear programs, also for the first time, Wang
said.
Likewise, it was the first time Japan said it would provide
energy aid to the DPRK on certain conditions for the freeze of the
nuclear programs.
Both China and Russia offered important plans and proposals for
pressing ahead with the peaceful talks and overcoming the
difficulties, Wang said.
"The proposals and plans are the results achieved through the
efforts of all relevant parties since the talks started a year ago,
and they also reflect the positive political will of all parties to
push forward the peaceful talks," he said.
For the second progress, Wang said the six parties reached
consensus on the first phase of the denuclearization on the Korean
Peninsula, and all agreed that the nuclear freeze and its
corresponding measures were the first phase of the denuclearizaion
process.
The six parties expressed welcome and made positive assessment
of varying degrees on the commitment of the DPRK, he said.
Wang said the six parties agreed that the working group should
convene at an early date to discuss specifically on the scope,
duration and verification as well as corresponding measures in the
process of denuclearization, which will help deepen talks on
substantive matters and fundamentally promote the denuclearization
process.
The third progress showed that all parties agreed to take a
step-by-step process of "words for words" and "action for action"
in search for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue, said
Wang.
Wang said the fourth progress is that the parties approved the
Concept Paper on the Working Group, which decided the
responsibility and operation way of the Working Group. "This will
help the Working Group start a more effective, regular and
practical work," he said.
The last progress is that the parties agreed in principle to
hold the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks in Beijing by the end
of September, 2004, and released the second Chairman's Statement of
the talks, which indicated that the talks will be continued, said
Wang.
In general, Wang said this round of talks is featured with calm
atmosphere, substantial contents and in-depth discussions. It is
positive and pragmatic and reflects the spirit of mutual respect,
equality and consultations. While putting forward their own
solution proposals, the parties also showed respect for each
other's plans.
But Wang noted that the nuclear issue is highly complicated and
there is still a serious lack of mutual trust between relevant
sides. The basis of the talks is not solid enough, and there are
still a number of differences and even opposing ideas on the scope
and means of denuclearization, on nuclear freeze and corresponding
measures.
Wang said currently the nuclear issue faced two difficulties:
one is the scope and measures of nuclear abandonment, and the other
is the scope of corresponding measures of the nuclear freeze.
All parties, especially the DPRK and the United States, had
serious differences on these problems, he said, noting that the
disputes were narrowed in this round of the six-party talks.
On the issue of nuclear abandonment, the US side put forward for
the first time that the DPRK could give up all nuclear projects
permanently, comprehensively and transparently, and the DPRK
advanced for the first time to abandon all nuclear weapons and
relevant projects transparently, Wang said. This showed attitudes
of the two sides began to go closer.
On the issue of nuclear freeze, the DPRK stated clearly that the
freeze was the first step toward abandonment, and it was willing to
accept investigation on this problem, Wang said.
China, Russia, the ROK and Japan all agreed to take measures
simultaneously to solve the concerns of the DPRK, and the United
States also expressed its willingness to study DPRK 's
requirements, Wang said.
Wang said the plans tabled by the United States and the DPRK
shared "common elements" with many positive ideas worth serious
study. The DPRK plan emphasized the first phase of nuclear
abandonment while the United States plan stressed specific ways and
measures for the complete nuclear abandonment, he said.
But Wang stressed that the uranium enrichment issue, on which
the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
have major differences, should be clarified and explained in the
follow-up talks.
"The other side of difficulty is hope, and the process to solve
difficulties is the process to realize hopes," said Wang. "There is
no difficulty that cannot be solved, no hopes cannot be realized,
if we persevere in our talks."
For the role of the Chinese side, Wang said China's role in the
six-party talks is to promote the process of peaceful talks.
Wang said first, China has put forward the general goal,
direction and way to peacefully solve the issue, which have been
agreed by the other five sides and the international community.
Second, with the efforts of China, the framework of three-party
talks and six-party talks have been formed and become a continuous
process, Wang said.
He said the third aspect is that China, as host of the talks,
played a role of mediating, which has gained approval of all
sides.
However, China is not the dominating factor on the issue and the
key was not in China's hand, Wang said, adding that China has
always been well aware of this and managed to balance its position
and role.
As to this round of talks, Wang said China has also done three
things. First, China has urged the other sides, especially the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States to
provide their concrete plans.
The second is that China suggested that all sides should respect
each other and their plans and the third is China mediated actively
and put forward a middle course when the talks came to a deadlock,
Wang said.
Wang said this round of talks is convened at a time when the
peace talks entered the critical phase, and as the host nation
China is happy for the progress achieved, Wang said, adding the
hard-won progress has not only consolidated the achievements made
so far, but paved the way for future talks, and deserves
cherish.
Wang promised that China will continue to actively mediate with
an objective and fair stance and work for the peace, security and
prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and the region.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2004)