China proposes 6 nation meeting on North Korea

China has proposed holding an informal meeting this month with senior officials from six nations involving the long-stalled negotiations aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, Yonhap news agency said Thursday quoting a diplomatic source. The proposal was made in August before China’s chief nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, held talks in Pyongyang last week with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, the source said on the condition of anonymity, in another indication Beijing is stepping up its efforts to re-start the six-party talks. Organized by the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), affiliated with China’s foreign ministry, the proposed date of September 18 for the so-called Track 1.5 meeting in Beijing coincides with the eighth anniversary of a 2005 agreement when the six nations achieved their first breakthrough in resolving the North’s nuclear standoff during the multilateral dialogue, Yonhap added.