Associated Press

Beijing, July 8:

China will send a special envoy to North Korea next week after weekend talks with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on efforts to restart nuclear disarmament talks, the government said today. The brief announcement did not say what message the envoy would carry to Pyongyang. But China is under pressure from Washington to prod its North Korean ally to return to six-nation disarmament talks that have been suspended for 13 months. State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan will visit the North from Tuesday to Thursday as President Hu Jintao’s personal envoy, the Foreign Ministry said. The ministry did not immediately respond to requests to provide more details. Rice will hold talks on Sunday in Beijing with her Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, on efforts to restart the nuclear talks. Rice’s Asian trip includes stops in Japan and South Korea — also participants in the nuclear talks — as well as Thailand. South Korea welcomed the announcement of Tang’s visit as “very timely and meaningful.” “We expect this visit will be constructive for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the North Korea nuclear problem,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung said in Seoul.