China will continue to play an active and constructive role to encourage the various sides to move forward on the basis of the mechanism of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan made the remarks at a regular news briefing in Beijing Tuesday, calling on all six participants to show "flexibility and pragmatism" in order to hold the next round of talks "before the end of September or as soon as possible."

Host country China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia have held three rounds of talks in Beijing since August 2003, in a bid to resolve the nuclear issue. They agreed in June to hold another round of talks by the end of this month.

Kong acknowledged that there are difficulties at the moment, adding that the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula could be reached "step by step" as long as all parties make due efforts.

"I think this is not only the aspiration of people in this region, but also the desire of the international community," he said.

"But the sky won't fall down," the spokesman said when asked about the consequences if the talks fail to take place before the end of the month as initially agreed.

The DPRK said in a statement last month that it would be impossible for it to take part in the fourth round of the talks due to the "hostile policy" of the United States.

"A nuclear freeze is possible and it can lead to the dismantling of the nuclear program only when the situation develops in the direction of the US stopping hostile acts against the DPRK," the Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying last month.

Kong added: "We won't give up (efforts to promote the talks) even if there is only one single reason to be hopeful."

China has sent Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, to Pyongyang with a letter from President Hu Jintao to DPRK leader Kim Jong-il.

Describing Li's visit as "successful," Kong said that during the meeting the DPRK reiterated that the six-party talks are an effective mechanism to resolve the nuclear issue.

The White House on Monday also praised China's role in hosting the six-party talks.

"China has been very involved in these efforts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told a news briefing.

Also on Monday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei met US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly in Beijing.

The two sides vowed to stick to the direction of seeking peaceful solution through dialogue and the goal of creating a nuclear-free peninsula, Kong said, adding that the two sides agreed to enhance communication and coordination to push forward the talks.

Speaker of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament Sergei Mironov ended his three-day visit to Pyongyang yesterday, during which he discussed the nuclear issue with DPRK leaders.

Mironov met Kim on Monday and handed him a personal letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The DPRK's stance of a 'freeze for compensation' is the basis for a future agreement," said Mironov.

British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell also just concluded his Pyongyang visit on the nuclear issue.

In another development, the spokesman said China asked the United States to revise its draft to the UN Security Council on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, western Sudan.

China closely watched the Darfur issue, and hoped the Sudan government can ease the local humanitarian situation at an early date with help from international community, especially from the African Union, he said.

China has offered 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) worth of material aid to Sudan, he said.

Sudan has made progress in implementing the Resolution 1556 of the UN Security Council so far and the local situation has been developing toward a good direction, he noted.

The international community should give positive comment on Sudan's effort and allow enough time to fulfill its commitment, the spokesman said.

The new draft, submitted to the UN Security Council by the United States, was not in accordance with the theme of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report on Sudan's implementation of the Resolution 1556, he said.

Under the current situation, to exert pressure and threaten to adopt sanctions will serve nothing but make the Darfur issue more complicated, Kong said, noting China has noticed that many countries have the same idea.

China hopes the US side can revise the new draft according to all sides' suggestions for a proper solution on the Darfur issue, he said.

The Darfur crisis has escalated since February 2003 to what the United Nations described as a humanitarian disaster that has claimed the lives of over 10,000 people and displaced some 1 million others.

Also at yesterday's briefing, the spokesman announced that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Kyrgyzstan and Russia, attending the third meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) among prime ministers from SCO member states and the ninth regular meeting between Chinese and Russian prime ministers from September 21 to 25.

Kong said during Wen's visit, he will extensively exchange ideas of bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of common interest with leaders of the two countries. He will also discuss the trade cooperation and SCO's development with other prime ministers from SCO member states. He will sign some important documents during his visit.

Kong said Wen's visit will further promote friendly cooperative relations with neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Russia as well as multilateral cooperation within SCO.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2004)