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      US, China Talks Focus on Tensions With North Korea Over Nuclear Test

   by Pamela Dockins

   The United States and China have reaffirmed their commitment to a
   denuclearized Korean peninsula, but have not agreed on a new set of
   penalties following North Korea's recent nuclear test.

   After meeting in Beijing with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,
   Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Wednesday said his country was
   prepared to support a new U.N. resolution against Pyongyang's nuclear
   program.

   But he did not mention any specific penalties and said the resolution
   should not provoke new tensions.

   Kerry said a consensus needs to be reached on a strong U.N. resolution,
   but the parameters of that have not yet been agreed to.

   ''He said more sanctions had been put in place against Iran, which does
   not have nuclear weapons, than against North Korea, which does.

   Meeting with Xi

   During his daylong visit to China, Kerry will also meet with President
   Xi Jinping and other government officials.

   On the question of China's relationship with North Korea, analysts say
   Beijing sometimes appears hesitant to impose additional penalties on
   Pyongyang, because of the two countries' competing interests.

   "For China, the challenge is balancing the need to punish North Korea
   with their concerns about stability in North Korea. So, they want to
   push but they don't want to push too hard," said Scott Snyder, a Korean
   studies analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.

   ''U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken traveled ahead of Kerry
   to Asia where he discussed North Korea's action with his Japanese and
   South Korean counterparts.

   Blinken said they stood firmly united "in strongly condemning this
   test, and in our determination, to impose costs for the DPRK's
   (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) flaunting of its international
   obligations."

   South China Sea dispute

   Another focal point during the talks will be the maritime dispute in
   the South China Sea, where China and others in the Asia-Pacific region,
   including Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines, have overlapping claims.

   Earlier this month, regional tensions flared when China tested a runway
   on one of its artificial islands in the region.

   China is the last leg of Kerry's three-nation tour of Asia that also
   included stops in Laos and Cambodia.

   Kerry flew to Beijing Tuesday evening from Phnom Penh, where human
   rights concerns and bilateral trade were focal points during his talks
   with Cambodian officials.

   Kerry said progress for Cambodia in the areas of human rights,
   universal freedoms and good governance is "critical," in order "to
   fulfill the potential" of bilateral relations with the United States.

   ''
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-china-focus-on-tensions-with-no
   rth-korea-over-nuclear-test/3164464.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-china-focus-on-tensions-with-north-korea-over-nuclear-test/3164464.html