US, Chinese leaders discuss North Korea, Darfur

Nov 27, 2006 (TALLINN) — US President George W. Bush held talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao on North Korea’s nuclear program and developments in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, a White House spokesman said.

Bush spoke with Hu during his flight to the Baltics, where the US president will visit Estonia and attend a NATO summit in neighbouring Latvia.

Bush asked for “continued Chinese leadership on various international issues such as the situation in North Korea and Darfur,” said the spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, who had arrived in the Estonian capital Tallinn ahead of Bush.

“The two presidents reviewed their good meeting in Hanoi on the margins of the APEC summit and agreed that US-China cooperation is moving forward well, to the benefit of both the American and Chinese people,” he said.

The leaders held talks on November 19 on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vietnam.

Washington and Beijing have been cooperating to try to relaunch talks aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear activities.

The two countries — veto-holding members of the UN Security Council — have also been working to encourage Sudan to allow an international peacekeeping force into Darfur, amid a grave humanitarian crisis there.

(AFP)