"China always holds that dialogue is better than confrontation. The only correct and effective approach to the solution of the DPRK nuclear issue is through constructive dialogue and consultations on the basis of equality, especially the sincere and pragmatic dialogue directly among the parties concerned," Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan said at the meeting of Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He urged the parties to continue to exercise restraint and refrain from taking any action that could escalate the issue.

Zhang reiterated China's position on nuclear weapons, saying his country always supports and actively maintains the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, including the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and supports the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Referring to a resolution concerning the DPRK nuclear issue adopted earlier at the IAEA meeting, Zhang said China believed that "the UN Security Council's involvement at this stage might not necessarily contribute to the settlement of the issue." He asked the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, to "take a cautious and prudent attitude in addressing this issue and play a constructive role for the settlement of the DPRK nuclear issue."

Warning that pressure and sanctions "may exacerbate the confrontation and further complicate the issue," the ambassador said China does not support any approaches of exerting pressure and imposing sanctions at every turn.

The IAEA met on Wednesday and decided to report the DPRK's "non-compliance" and the agency's inability to verify non-diversion of nuclear material subject to safeguards to all members of the agency and to the UN Security Council and General Assembly, which might set in motion a process that could lead to sanctions against Pyongyang for its suspected nuclear weapons program.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2003)