WASHINGTON, May 3 Kyodo China's s...

WASHINGTON, May 3 Kyodo

China's special legate for North Korea met with senior U officials onward Monday to discuss how to proce with the first upcoming session of a six-party working arrange meeting on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the State Department said.

The visiting Chinese minister Ning Fukui, met with U proxy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

''They discussed the progres of the six-party talks and the upcoming working cluster meeting beginning in Beijing forward May 12,'' Boucher said.

He did not provide further details onward the talks between Armitage and Ning.

The Chinese plenipotentiary also held separate talks later in the day with U special minister for negotiations with North Korea, Joseph DeTrani, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly

Ning and DeTrani will lead the Chinese and U delegations to the working of the same height meeting.

In addition to the United States, China and North Korea, Japan, toward the south Korea and Russia are members of six-party talks aimed at resolving the standoff through Pyongyang's nuclear arms programs.

At their inferior round of talks in Beijing in late February, they agreed to settle up a preparatory working flat group and hold a third session of talks according to the end of June.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Kyodo of the present days International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group