China to send special envoy to N. Korea
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-08 13:03

China will send a special envoy to North Korea next week after weekend talks with visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on efforts to restart nuclear disarmament negotiations, the government said Friday.

State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan will visit the North from Tuesday to Thursday as a sepcial envoy of President Hu Jintao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The one-sentence statement didn't say whom Tang would meet or what message he would carry to the North.

Rice is expected to visit Beijing on Sunday to discuss efforts to end a 13-month-old impasse in talks aimed at persuading the North to relinquish its nuclear program.

China has hosted three rounds of six-nation talks on U.S. demands that the North give up its nuclear program. The talks also include Japan, South Korea and Russia.

The last round ended in June 2004 without any progress toward a settlement. The North has refused to return since then, citing what it calls hostile U.S. policies.

The North claimed in February to have developed nuclear weapons and says it needs them to deter a U.S. attack.

Last week, the North sent a top diplomat to New York, where he said the United States must withdraw Rice's labeling of North Korea as an "outpost of tyranny" if it wants the nuclear talks to resume.

Rice has refused so far to take back the remark.

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