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Beijing speaks against N Korea’s possible nuclear test

At the same time, he urged the international community to make “sober decisions” on North Korea

MOSCOW, April 28 (Itar-Tass) —— Beijing is against a possible nuclear test in North Korea, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told Itar-Tass on Saturday, April 28.

Russia and China have identical positions on the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, he said.

The diplomat called for further six-party talks and spoke “against a possible nuclear test by Pyongyang”.

At the same time, he urged the international community to make “sober decisions” on North Korea.

“We do not want destabilisation on the Korean Peninsula, and we maintain constant contact to ensure peace and stability in the region,” Cheng said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi earlier urged all parties involved to exert more effort and use the current relatively favourable moment for resuming the six-party talks as soon as possible.

The minister pointed out, however, that the problem would not be solved overnight, and said that the timing for the resumption of talks would require further consultations in order to come to consensus.

Yang believes that the six-party talks have already produced positive results, one of which is the joint statement of September 19, 2005, which has played an important role in stabilisation in the region.

The six-party talks ended in December 2008 with a sharp disagreement on how to verify the North's steps to disable its nuclear programme. The talks have been on hold ever since. Following a long-range missile test in April the following year, the North declared dialogue with the United States over. In July, the North declared the six-party talks dead because it was no longer a forum of discussions on equal footing.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin, who leads the Russian delegation to the six-party talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, said earlier that denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula is and should be discussed within the framework of the six-nation process. “Not only do our South Korean partners not reject such an approach, but they support it wholeheartedly and seek to ensure that the six-sided talks on the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula resume at the earliest opportunity. But for them to resume, the DPRK and other parties to these negotiations have to take some preliminary steps and some preliminary statements, for example, confirming their commitment to the Joint Statement of September 19, 2005,” he said.