China's foreign ministry on Friday declined to comment on published remarks by its point man on North Korea that the North has made significant progress in its pursuit of a hydrogen bomb.
China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei made the remarks on Thursday in Japan during a meeting with Sadakazu Tanigaki, the secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to a report by Japan's Kyodo news agency.
During the meeting, Wu told Tanigaki that North Korea aims to complete development of a hydrogen bomb and has made significant progress, the report said.
Asked about the published remarks by Wu, China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei replied, "With regard to Mr. Wu Dawei's remarks, I have no comment at the moment." Hong did not elaborate further.
Wu is on a five-day visit to Tokyo. China said the trip was aimed at discussing ways to resume long-stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
North Korea was slapped with tougher U.N. sanctions earlier last month, following its fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket in February.
North Korea's latest nuclear test further raised worries about the North's defiant pursuit of atomic weapons as it claimed that the fourth test was based on a hydrogen device. (Yonhap)
