BEIJING, June 23, SPA -- U.S. and Chinese defense officials sat down Tuesday for their first high-level bilateral military talksin 18 months amid rising tensions over North Korea'snuclear weapons program. No immediate details were available about the two-daytalks between delegations headed by U.S. DefenseUndersecretary Michele Flournoy and People's LiberationArmy deputy chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian. Reporterswere ushered from the meeting room in Beijing's imposingDefense Ministry after a brief photo opportunity, according to a report of the Associated Press. The discussions are formally known as the U.S.-China DefenseConsultative Talks. At a separate briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmanQin Gang said North Korea would be on the talks' agenda, inaddition to Taiwan and international security issues. «I believe under the current circumstances, China andU.S. discussions of the situation on the Korean peninsulaare a natural thing,» Qin said at a regularly schedulednews conference.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/677471