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China wants constructive role in Korea peace

BEIJING: China said on Tuesday it wants to play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the Korean peninsula but declined comment on an offer to join four-nation talks for a permanent peace in the tense region.

"China has always hoped for peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and will play a constructive role to this effect," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang told a news briefing.

Asked about the peace proposal, Shen said he could not comment because he did not know the details.

U.S. President Bill Clinton and his South Korean counterpart Kim Young-sam called on Tuesday on China and North Korea to join in four-nation talks to defuse tensions in the peninsula.

Clinton's visit to South Korea was the first leg of a tour that includes Japan and Russia. He left for Japan on Tuesday.

Shen said China was not consulted before Clinton and Kim made the offer.

He said Japan and other Asian nations should also make joint efforts to preserve peace and stability in the Korean peninsula.

North Korea rattled the region this month when Pyongyang announced it would no longer recognise the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that separates it from rival South Korea.

North Korea also announced it was abandoning obligations to the 43-year-old Korean War armistice accord that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

Following the announcement, North Korean soldiers intruded into the DMZ three times, setting off alarm bells in South Korea. On each occasion the troops withdrew without incident.

China backed North Korea in the Korean War and was a signatory to the armistice, but relations between the two former comrades-in-arms have cooled in recent years.-Reuter