Rice: China Gave N. Korea 'A Strong Message'

BEIJING, Oct. 20 -- China gave North Korea "a strong message" that it will implement a tough U.N. Security Council resolution punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test and that it must return to disarmament talks, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday after meetings with top Chinese leaders.

Rice, briefing reporters traveling with her, said China is considering a range of responses to North Korea's nuclear activity, but said she did not press the government to take any particular steps to force North Korea back to the bargaining table.

"Let's just watch and see what China will do," Rice said, adding that "no one wants to be on the wrong side of the resolution, letting something slip through."

The resolution bars trade with North Korea concerning weapons, materials that could be used in a nuclear program and luxury goods.

Rice arrived in China after stops in Japan and South Korea to coordinate strategy on implementing the resolution--and also to reassure Asians that the United States does not want to escalate the conflict.

Rice said it was clear that early reports on U.S. intentions have "conjured up in people's minds the Cuban missile crisis," in which the U.S. imposed a quarantine on Cuba. She said she wanted to allay those fears.

On Thursday, China announced that State Councilor Tang Jiazuan had led a high-level delegation to Pyongyang and met with North Korean leader Kim Jung Il. Tang, who as state counsilor outranks the foreign minister in the Chinese system, visited Washington last week and then flew to Moscow before arriving in Pyongyang.

When he posed for photographs with Rice and Tang before their meeting Friday, Tang was overheard to tell Rice "Fortunately, my visit this time has not been in vain." Reporters were then ushered from the room.

North Korea has repeatedly said that it will only return to the talks, in suspension for nearly a year, if the United States ends its campaign to thwart North Korean counterfeiting of U.S. currency.

A year ago, the Treasury Department identified a Macao bank as a money laundering concern and a conduit for North Korean counterfeits, which led Chinese authorities to freeze $24 million in accounts, some apparently linked to Kim and his family. Many banks around the world then stopping dealing with North Korea.

Rice said a recent decision by at least four Chinese banks to stop dealing with North Korea was related to investigation of Banca Delta Asia, the Macao bank.

Rice also met with Chinese president Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. "We hope all relevant parties will maintain coolheadedness, adopt a prudent and a responsible approach and adhere to peaceful dialogue," Li told reporters after meeting with Rice.

In Seoul on Thursday, Rice pressed the South Korean government to fully implement the U.N. sanctions, but she encountered reluctance among officials who fear that tough action could lead to increased tensions and even war.

South Korean officials said they had deferred decisions on whether to suspend two cross-border business projects with North Korea -- the Mount Kumgang tourist resort and the Kaesong Industrial Park.

Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon said the government would evaluate its participation in light of the new security council resolution . He noted that the Kumgang resort, which provides about $13 million a year in hard currency for North Korea, is a "very symbolic project" for the two countries, separated since World War II.

Throughout her tour of Asia, Rice has battled the perception that the United States is eager for an escalation. News media reports here have suggested that the United States wants to use the U.N. resolution to spur a dramatic confrontation with North Korea, such as a blockage or quarantine.

Asian officials have repeatedly cautioned against relying only on sanctions, and emphasized the importance of resuming talks. In Seoul, Ban said that "sanctions are not made for the sake of sanctions," but as a way to draw North Korea back to negotiations. In Beijing, a Chinese government spokesman told reporters that "sanctions are a signal, not the goal."

At the news conference with Ban, Rice emphasized: "We want to leave open the path of negotiation. We don't want the crisis to escalate."

She added: "I did not come to South Korea, nor will I go anyplace else, to try and dictate to governments what they ought to do." But she urged other nations to "take stock of the leverage we have to get North Korea to return to the six-party talks" involving Russia and Japan in addition to the United States, China and the two Koreas.

Rice held lengthy talks with Ban, who was recently selected as the next U.N. secretary general, and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun. She then held a dinner with Ban and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, which was intended to show trilateral solidarity after several years of bickering between South Korea and Japan -- and a worsening U.S.-South Korean relationship.

U.S. officials want South Korea to join the administration's Proliferation Security Initiative, a maritime exercise designed to thwart trade in weapons of mass destruction. South Korea was deliberately not invited when the program was started during President Bush's first term. The official traveling with Rice acknowledged that South Korea previously felt that joining it would be seen as a "provocative act" that would undermine its ability to influence North Korea.

Rice said that "there is a lot of misunderstanding" about the initiative, stressing that it is based on current legal authority and relies on intelligence, not "constant random inspection of ships." Rice said that while the United States wants to pay close attention to North Korean cargo, "there are many different ways in which this can be achieved," such as "container security initiatives" to detect potentially radioactive materials.

The senior U.S. official suggested there is concern about the stability of North Korea, a tightly controlled dictatorship. "A lot of us are wondering what is going on," the official said, adding it did not make sense for North Korea to test a weapon in defiance of China, its main benefactor.

"There should never be a second nuclear test, as it would further aggravate the current situation," Ban said. The United States and South Korea "shared an understanding that if it happened, there would be more grave consequences."