Korean nuclear disarmament forward BEIJING, Feb 26, SPA -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Ricesaid Tuesday she expects China to help prod North Koreainto fully declaring its nuclear programs as part ofefforts to breath life into a stalled disarmament process, reported ap. Kicking off a brief visit to Beijing, Rice also repeatedher earlier criticisms of a referendum planned by China'srival Taiwan on joining the United Nations. She said she also discussed with Chinese Foreign MinisterYang Jiechi the need for a new U.N. resolution to pressureIran into cooperating with nuclear inspectors. The sides,meanwhile, also recommitted themselves to renewed dialogueon religious and civil rights. Washington still awaits a «complete and fulldeclaration» from North Korea as promised last year, Ricetold reporters. «I am expecting from China what I am expecting fromothers. That we will use all influence possible with theNorth Koreans to convince them that it is time to moveforward,» Rice said. Yang said China, the host of six-nation talks on NorthKorea's denuclearization process, had been in «closetalks» with the North, its longtime communist ally whoseshattered economy it is helping prop up. «China will continue to play an important role in movingthis forward,» Yang said. China's Foreign Ministry said Rice would also meet withChinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and StateCouncilor Tang Jiaxuan, a senior adviser on foreignaffairs. She was due to leave Wednesday for Japan, thethird stop on a regional tour to jump-start a year-oldagreement under which North Korea pledged to dismantle itsnuclear programs in return for aid and diplomatic benefits. While Pyongyang maintains a large diplomatic mission inBeijing, Rice has ruled out talks with North Koreanofficials during her official stay in China, saying such ameeting was neither warranted nor could be of any use inthe current circumstances. North Korea has said it already has provided a list of itsprograms, but Washington has countered that Pyongyang hasnot given a complete accounting. Although North Korea shut down its main nuclear reactorlast year, American researchers who visited the complexearlier this month reported that officials there said theyhad slowed the removal of fuel rods. They said that wasbecause the United States and other nations have fallenbehind in supplying aid promised under the disarmamentdeal.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/530724