US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, a key figure in the stalled six-party talks involving the two Koreas, is scheduled to arrive in Beijing Wednesday night for meetings with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei.

China also expects Paek Nam Sun, minister of foreign affairs of North Korea, to visit China between May 30 to June 6 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

In addition, Li also met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, Foreign Minister of South Korea Ban Ki-moon and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the fifth ministerial conference of Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha earlier Tuesday.

The stalled six-party talks are aimed at resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

"At present, the six-party talks face difficulties, even severe problems", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu said Tuesday afternoon.

He called on all parties to remain flexible, pragmatic and rely on their political wisdom. He wants obstacles to the resumption of the talks cleared and positive progress promoted.

Hill is reported to have said the US will not give North Korea any incentives to persuade it back to the talks. Hill, who is also the US chief negotiator at the talks, reportedly made the remarks on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur before departing for China.

"I think we need to be patient but also firm. It is not for us to provide incentives to the North Koreans to come back and do something that is in their interest to do," Hill was quoted as saying by the Japanese Kyodo News Agency.

Analysts believe that the new round of shuttle diplomacy could rekindled the six-party talks, if the United States and North Korea, two major players of the talks, can show flexibility and rebuild mutual trust.

"The frequent meetings showcase the commitment of the concerned parties and indicate the urgent need to restart the talks", said Zhang Liankui, a professor with the Beijing-based Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The six parties to the talks are China, North Korea, the United Sates, South Korea, Russia and Japan.

The last session of the talks ended last September in a standoff when North Korea accused the United States of imposing economic sanctions. North Korea set the lifting of the sanctions as a precondition for the resumption of talks.

The United States froze the US-based assets of eight North Korea companies last October. Since then North Korea has refused to resume the talks.

"Issues between the US and North Korea are the major contributor to the current impasse", Zhang said.

However, the expert still believes that close contact between the key players could at least ensure the six-party talks function under a constructive framework. "Hope remains for future progress, although substantial results can hardly be guaranteed from this new round of diplomatic efforts.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2006)