China, Japan reject sanctions link to talks
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-09 18:52

Japan and China have agreed that the resumption of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions should not be linked to US financial sanctions on Pyongyang, a Japanese diplomat said.

Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceania affairs bureau, met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei on Sunday and discussed the status of the drawn-out talks, the diplomat said.

"They agreed that relaunching the talks and issues of money-laundering ... should be separately resolved," the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

"They should not be mixed together...the two issues are separate."

The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a reporter's request for comment Monday.

North Korea has insisted since the last round of the talks two months ago that it will boycott further negotiations unless the sanctions, imposed by the United States for alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering, are lifted.