US, China to hold talks on North Korea next week

The United States and China will hold talks next week to discuss North Korea’s nuclear threats, the State Department announced Friday.

The meetings come about two weeks after North Korea threatened to conduct another nuclear test, but in a “new form.”

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Glyn Davies will host the meetings with his Chinese counterpart on Monday and Tuesday in New York, and on Thursday in Washington.

Davies and Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawei will “exchange views on a wide range of issues related to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the State Department said in a release.

{mosads}“Special Representative Wu’s visit is part of a series of high-level, in-depth U.S.-China discussions on how to achieve our shared goal of a denuclearized North Korea in a peaceful manner.”

Obama administration officials have tried to meet with Wu for months, The Associated Press notes, because the U.S. views Chinese cooperation as necessary to controlling North Korea’s provocative behavior.

Over the last year, China has been increasingly critical of North Korea, but U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns this week said he thinks China fears pushing North Korea too hard because it could lead to instability.