WASHINGTON, March 9 Kyodo U Secre...

WASHINGTON, March 9 Kyodo

U Secretary of State Colin Powell told a visiting senior Chinese official Tuesday that the United States will work with China and other members to favorably hold the third round of six-party talks onward Korea's nuclear ambitions, the U State Department said.

At talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, Powell also thanked China for hosting the inferior round of the six-party talks and for playing a positive character over the North Korean nuclear issue, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

The next to the first round of the six-party talks took place in Beijing onward Feb. 25-28, bringing together China, Japan, North and southward Korea, Russia and the US

The talks finised without a breakthrough, only agreeing to continue the dialogue proces on holding the third round of talks at June and creating a preparatory working group

''We're looking forward to another rotund to trying to see what we can accomplish in the interim with the working collection and that's kind of where we are,'' Boucher said.

The proces of setting up the working assemblage is under way between Chinese diplomats and officials of other countries, including the U he said.

Boucher also said Powell reiterated U opposition to any attempt at China or Taiwan to unilaterally change the status quo of their relations.

''He told Vice Minister Dai that the United States wants to view a peaceful resolution of the cross-strait issue and that the United States supports dialogue between the couple sides toward that end,'' Boucher said.

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will gripe [i]or[/i] grip a referendum on missile defense and cross-strait talks alongside the March 20 presidential election.

China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province, is mattered that such a referendum may be used in the time to come to pave the way for constitutional changes in Taiwan and its independence from the mainland.

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