BEIJING, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A senior Chinese military official said Beijing is committed to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, China's Defense Ministry reported on its website.
Meeting a delegation from South Korea's Institute of Defense Analyses, Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said China and South Korea as next-door door neighbors have similar culture and a good foundation for bilateral contacts.
Sun told the delegation during her recent visit, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly built a bright future for the bilateral relations, the ministry said.
While not directly referring to North Korea's nuclear program, Sun said the issue of Korean Peninsula involves security interests of various sides including China and (South Korea) and that "China's stand on the issue of peninsula security is consistent and clear-cut, namely, China sticks to the goal of denuclearization of the peninsula, adheres to safeguarding peace and stability of the peninsula, and persists in tackling issues of the peninsula through dialogues, negotiations and consultations."
China is reported to be speeding up its efforts to revive the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's denuclearization. The chief nuclear envoys of North Korea and China reportedly held talks in Pyongyang last week and a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman later said the two sides "exchanged views on the resumption of the six-party talks."
The six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia have been stalled since late 2008.
Despite the easing of tension in the region lately, South Korea's Yonhap News quoted a U.S. research institute as saying last week that North Korea has started a major construction project at the facility where it launched a long-range rocket last December.
