China Says It Expects Meeting of U.S, Japan, South Korea to Ease Tensions

China expects a meeting of officials from the U.S., Japan and South Korea scheduled for Dec. 6 to ease tensions and promote dialogue on the Korean peninsula, said Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

China will keep “close watch” on the meeting and expects the three nations to take regional peace and stability into account, Jiang said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website today. China hopes the countries will give “positive consideration” of its proposal to solve the issue, Jiang said.

The meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung Hwan and Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara demonstrates the nations’ “commitment to security on the Korean peninsula and stability in the region,” the State Department said in a statement yesterday.

China proposed “emergency” six-nation talks be held early this month in Beijing to address increasing military tensions after North Korea’s Nov. 23 artillery attack on a South Korean island, Wu Dawei, China’s top envoy for the negotiations, said on Nov. 28. The U.S., South Korea and Japan have said they want to see concrete action by North Korea before talks resume.

North Korea pulled out of the discussions with China, South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia and expelled international arms inspectors after the United Nations said an April 2009 rocket launch violated a Security Council resolution.