BEIJING (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Beijing for talks which he hopes will lead to a quick resumption of stalled talks on the North Korean nuclear impasse amid new bellicose accusations from Pyongyang.
However, Powell, who flew in from Tokyo and heads to Seoul on Monday to cap a lightning three-nation Asian tour, will get an earful from Chinese officials about US policy toward Taiwan, Beijing's perennial complaint about Washington.
As Powell left Japan, where he flatly denied North Korean claims that the United States is trying to sabotage the multi-nation talks aimed at ending the deadlock, Pyongyang intensified its ever potent anti-US diatribe.
A day after threatening to bolster its military deterrent to counter "hostile" American acts, North Korea blasted a US-led joint naval exercise due to be held off Japan this week and accused the United States of being a "real criminal" intent on disturbing peace.
Minju Joson, the newspaper issued by the Stalinist state's cabinet, said the 22-nation drill "suggests that the US intends to lay an international siege to the DPRK (North Korea) through naval blockade in a bid to stifle it.
"The US pays lip service to 'peaceful solution to the nuclear issue' ... while talking about the resumption of the six-party talks, but this can never cover up the true colors of the US as a real criminal," it said.
In Japan Powell denied Pyongyang's persistent allegations of "hostile" US intent and said Washington and Tokyo both felt "a sense of urgency" in convincing North Korea to return without conditions to the six-nation talks.
"The sooner North Korea understands that there is only one way to solve this problem -- and that is through the six-party framework -- the better off we will be," he said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura.
One of the stated goals of the three-day naval drill, part of the US-proposed Proliferation Security Initiative, is to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction by and to North Korea.
But Powell denied the manoeuvers were aimed at Pyongyang and said "the only thing North Korea should be concerned about is whether or not they are going to be caught in the act of participating in this kind of illicit traffic.
"This is not hostile to any nation that is acting in an appopriate manner," he said, adding that Pyongyang's claim -- that a new US law to promote human rights in North Korea is hostile -- was equally false.
"Neither of these actions are hostile acts toward North Korea," Powell said.
"They are not for the purpose of derailing the six-party talks, they are expressions of concern that the international community has about the behavior of the North Korean government."
Powell also reiterated Washington's earlier rejection of North Korean demands for certain concessions before a new round of talks.
"The provision of assistance of the kind North Korea needs ... can only come when North Korea has made it clear that they are prepared to use the six-party framework as a way of dealing with this problem and eliminating their nuclear weapons programs and in a verifiable manner," he said.
There have been three inconclusive rounds of talks between the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
North Korea boycotted the fourth round due last month, citing US "hostile" policy and South Korea's past nuclear experiments.
Although North Korea will dominate Powell's agenda in all three capitals, China's foreign ministry says Taiwan will figure prominently in Powell's discussions early Monday with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
The foreign ministry said Thursday the United States should stop selling arms to Taiwan and refrain from forging military links with the island or taking action that will send the "wrong signals" to Taiwan.
Powell will prod Beijing to consider talks with Taiwan and try to allay concerns over US arms sales to Taipei following the Chinese rejection of a call by Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bian for dialogue, the State Department said.
He will tell Chinese leaders that Chen's proposal should be seen as an opportunity, the department said last week.
Powell is also expected to raise US concerns about China's human rights record and will likely raise the fate of a New York Times researcher arrested for allegedly leaking state secrets, a crime punishable by death.
10/24/2004 - 21:19 GMT - AFP