DPA
Beijing, May 27 (DPA) China Tuesday said it believed the military alliance between the US and South Korea was a “Cold War product” as South Korean President Lee Myung Bak visited the country. Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said East Asian nations had “also changed a lot” since the US-South Korean alliance was forged in the 1950-53 Korean War.

China hoped to use Lee’s four-day visit to “enhance trust and expand cooperation” with South Korea and would like the two sides to discuss “international and regional issues,” which were expected to focus on North Korea, Qin said.

The official China Daily quoted analysts as saying the visit would help China and South Korea to “upgrade their ties from the partnership of comprehensive cooperation to the strategic level.”

Lee was scheduled to meet President Hu Jintao later Tuesday on his first visit to China as South Korea’s leader.

Lee also planned to visit the eastern port of Qingdao, which is home to about 5,000 South Korean companies.

Qin said Wu Dawei, China’s envoy for six-party negotiations on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, would meet his US, North Korean, Japanese and South Korean counterparts in the next few days.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan were already in Beijing for the talks, state media said.

The latest obstacle stalling the six-party negotiations is North Korea’s failure to give a full declaration of all nuclear programmes and facilities, which it had agreed to do with the other five nations involved in the talks.

North and South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia last held talks in October.
DPA