A senior Chinese diplomat accused the Bush administration of undermining efforts to revive negotiations with North Korea and said there was "no solid evidence" that Pyongyang was preparing to test a nuclear weapon, The New York Times reported on Friday. The comments by Yang Xiyu, a senior Foreign Ministry official and China's top official on the North Korean nuclear problem, reflect growing frustration in Beijing with the Bush administration, the newspaper said in a report from Beijing. Yang said on Thursday in an interview with the newspaper: "It is true that we do not yet have tangible achievements (in ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.) But a basic reason for the unsuccessful effort lies in the lack of co-operation from the US side."
Yang said when President George W. Bush called North Korea leader Kim Jong-il a "tyrant" last month, he "destroyed the atmosphere" for negotiations.
China has struggled to restart six-nation negotiations on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, which stalled last June and also involve South Korea, Japan and Russia.
"North Korea is the one who has been unwilling to come back to the six-party talks. We have made it very clear that there are no preconditions for coming back to the six-party talks," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Yang said what diplomats had been whispering for months: personal attacks against Kim by Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top administration officials had caused a "loss of face" for North Korean officials and created big obstacles to reaching any negotiated solution.
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