Chinese Envoy Returns Empty-Handed from N.Korea

Chinese nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei returned to Beijing on Thursday after a three-day stay in Pyongyang that appears to have produced little in the way of tangible results.

He told reporters that he said what he wanted to say but is uncertain what consequences will follow.

His brief seems to have been to dissuade the North from going ahead with a planned satellite launch that is widely seen as a veiled test of long-range missile technology.

Wu met with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong and chief nuclear negotiator Ri Yong-ho, according to the official [North] Korean Central News Agency.

KCNA merely reported that opinions were exchanged over "matters of mutual concern."

There were no reports at all in the Chinese media, suggesting Beijing feels a great deal of embarrassment.

"China lost a lot of face when the North announced the plan to launch the space rocket on the very day of Wu's arrival," a diplomatic source in Beijing said.

A government source here said it is unlikely that Wu succeeded in dissuading the North from the plan.