US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Sunday held talks with top leaders in Beijing amid concerns over China's expanding military, rising tensions with Taiwan and hopes of resuming talks aimed ending a nuclear stand-off on the Korean Peninsula. "The principal chunk of the meeting was about North Korea," a senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity after Rice met with Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao.
"The secretary said she hoped that China would intensify efforts to get North Korea to come back to talks in a constructive manner."
He said China also had a strong interest in seeing a nuclear weapons free Korean Peninsula and the six-party talks were a way of achieving that goal but he was cautious when asked about alternatives should talks fail.
The six parties in the stalled negotiations with Pyongyang include the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.
"There is a discussion among the various countries we are talking to, understanding that this can't go on forever, that North Korea should come back right away, and the beginning of the consideration of other diplomatic steps we might have to take if the North Koreans don't come back."
He said he could not remember any discussions regarding a deadline.
President Hu told Rice China was willing to work with the other parties to make it possible for the talks to resume at an early date, state TV said.
"Such allegations show no respect for reason or reality," Wang Yizhou, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the China Daily newspaper.
"It's a law that opposes and contains the Taiwan independence forces and maintains peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," President Hu Jintao told Rice in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, according to state TV.
"We hope the United States won't send any wrong signal to the Taiwan splittist forces," he was quoted as saying.
The State Department official said Rice had reiterated US policy on one China and noted that the anti-secession law "had raise tensions and suggested to the Chinese that they take steps to try to reduce those tensions."
Wen told Rice the anti-secession law was meant primarily to contain forces on Taiwan seeking independence, slammed by Beijing as the greatest threat to peace in the area.
"We hope the United States will understand, respect and support the Chinese legislative action," Wen said according to state radio.
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