China reconsiders frayed ties with North Korea

BEIJING, Sep 4 (Reuters) Chinese policy makers are debating how far their country should prop up or pressure North Korea as fraying economic ties compound political distrust.

According to South Korean news reports, China may invite secretive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for a visit to heal rifts over Pyongyang's July 5 missile tests and Beijing's vote for a UN Security Council resolution condemning them.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill visits Beijing tomorrow, seeking fresh pressure on North Korea to rejoin six-party talks on ending its nuclear arms programme.

Nobody expects Beijing to break with North Korea, its neighbour, long-time Communist ally and trade partner.

But Chinese researchers close to the government told Reuters that Kim was unlikely to visit while relations remained strained and prospects for the disarmament talks increasingly clouded.

''I'm sceptical about the visit,'' said Zhang Liangui, an expert on North Korea at the Central Party School, a key Beijing think-tank. ''The conditions aren't ripe and they won't be till Kim Jong-il changes his stance and agrees to return to the six-party talks. China's patience is being tested.'' The talks, hosted by China -- North Korea's main benefactor -- but stalled since November, also include the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Behind the diplomatic manoeuvres, Chinese officials and analysts are quietly debating relations with Pyongyang, said a senior scholar at a government think-tank.

''There are two debates going on. One about just how strategically important North Korea is to China; the other about whether China should maintain traditional relations in the face of rising political costs,'' he said. He requested anonymity.

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