U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

U.S. Department of State

Evening Walkthrough in Singapore

Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
St. Regis Hotel
Singapore
December 5, 2008

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Okay. We just finished having our consultations, and I'll be going to Seoul tomorrow morning and then on to Beijing on Sunday. We had an in-depth discussion. We talked a lot about the verification issues today, whereas yesterday, I'd say, we talked more of the issues of the fuel oil and things like that. So today was focused on verification and what we need to make sure that there are no misunderstandings as we go forward. So it was a good exchange of views. And we'll see how we do when we sit down to negotiate something at the Six-Party Talks.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Yeah. I think we're ready to go on to the heads of delegation. I can't say that we've agreed on anything at this point. But we certainly had a good exchange of views, on primarily the issue of the level of specificity, and what verification is going to look like. We talked a lot about the timing of things. So it was a good discussion. And that together with the trilateral we had in Tokyo, and I'm looking forward to meeting Ambassador Borodavkin in Beijing -- so I think we'll be ready for the Six-Party meeting. And let's hope we can get this verification protocol done then, and then move on from there.

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QUESTION: (inaudible)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: That's still to be worked out. We weren't negotiating here because negotiation is for the six parties. This was a consultation. And I'll certainly be reporting in depth on the conversations here that we've had. I'll be reporting to my other Six-Party partners. But the actual negotiation will be done in Beijing on Monday.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Yeah, I've got a clear idea, but we don't have agreement on it. But again, we weren't negotiating here; that will be done in Beijing.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, look, I think having had the meetings in Tokyo, I think we have a real clear understanding of what needs to be done. I certainly conveyed that to the DPRK. And whether we actually get the things down in writing that we need, we'll know when we get through the heads of delegation meeting in Beijing.

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QUESTION: (inaudible)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: That sounds like you're writing an article. Again, we were not here to negotiate. I can just tell you that I'm sure that the negotiations - when we do sit down and negotiate in Beijing - I'm sure, the negotiations will be as usual; they will be difficult.

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