Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi said in Beijing Saturday that China's role in the six-party talks is to promote peaceful talks.

 

Wang, chairman of the third round of six-party talks, Chinese delegation head and vice foreign minister, made the remarks at a press conference after the closing of the third round of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue in the Korean Peninsula.

 

Wang briefed the press on the role that China has played. First, China has put out the general goal, direction and way to peacefully solve the issue, which have been agreed by the other five sides and the international community.

 

Second, with the efforts of China, the framework of three-party talks and six-party talks have been formed and become a continuous process, Wang said.

 

He said the third aspect is that China, as host of the talks, played a role of mediating, which has gained approval of all sides.

 

However, China is not the dominating factor on the issue and the key was not in the hand of China, Wang said, adding that China has always been well aware of this and managed to balance its position and role.

 

As to this round of talks, Wang said China has also done three things. First, China has urged the other sides, especially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States to provide their concrete plans.

 

The second is that China suggested that all sides should respect each other and their plans and the third is China mediated actively and put forward a middle course when the talks came to a deadlock, Wang said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)