The United States Tuesday downplayed differences with China, and voiced optimism that Beijing's cooperation would in time help limit provocative North Korea's scope of action.

"China has a critical role to play" in tamping down skyrocketing tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of what Washington has described as belligerent behavior by Pyongyang, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said.

After North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island last month, President Barack Obama phoned his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao this week to encourage China to rein in its unpredictable ally Pyongyang.

Then trilateral talks in Washington Monday brought together the United States, Japan and South Korea -- but not China, even though the others said it is key to pressuring the North.

"It appears to be the flavor of the week, if you were to read the newspapers... that somehow the US-Chinese relationship is experiencing a serious downturn or freeze, or whatever the expressions are," Steinberg said in a speech at the Center for American Progress.

"Frankly, we don't see it that way," Steinberg stressed. "We believe in the interest of both the United States and China... to work together to achieve solutions to the world's most vexing problems."

North Korea shelled a South Korean border island on November 23, killing two marines and two civilians, and then it revealed a uranium enrichment program that alarmed US scientists.

China is North Korea's only major ally, and the impoverished country's economic and political lifeline.

A Washington Post report Tuesday indicated a change of tack by the Obama administration in its approach to China, suggesting the White House increasingly was short on patience with Beijing.

But Steinberg stepped back from the tense talk about China, and appeared to try to put a less distressed face on the latest potentially dangerous developments involving North Korea.

"We welcome the rise of a successful, strong and prosperous China that plays a greater role in global affairs," he said.

And recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula underscore the need for greater regional and Sino-US cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation, he said.

"We want to work with China to address this challenge," he stressed, and cited "important successes" in the past that have demonstrated the two powers were able to work effectively together.

He also blamed North Korea's current behavior, not China's actions or inaction, for greater strains currently in northeast Asia.

Asked about the context of North Korea's actions and its succession, Steinberg said Pyongyang needed "a strong message of the necessity of the North Koreans to exercise restraint -- that's what is creating the instability and the fragility.

"There does not seem to be effective restraints on North Korea engaging in these provocations," he said. "And we have to take steps to make clear that the danger comes from this kind of provocative behavior."

Steinberg also reiterated the US position that any renewed talks with North Korea would need to be preceded by some "concrete steps" by Pyongyang.

"We need a clear indication from North Korea" that it is respecting its commitments," he said.

In the wake of the shelling, Beijing called for emergency talks among envoys to the stalled six-nation negotiations on North Korean denuclearization, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

But Washington, Seoul and Tokyo balked, and instead held their three-way Washington gathering.

On the hot-button human rights issue, Steinberg stressed: "this is an important subject matter between our two countries."

"The United States continues to be concerned at the Chinese government's tight control of activities, and the people authorities in China deem threatening to the Communist Party," he added.

"We hope that China will take positive steps on human rights including the release of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo," Steinberg stressed in an address on China at the Center for American Progress.

In Oslo, the Nobel Institute said that 19 countries will shun Friday's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo for jailed Chinese dissident after Chinese pressure for a global boycott.

But in Beijing, China slammed the Nobel committee ahead of the prize ceremony for Liu Xiaobo, calling its members "clowns" and saying most of the world backed China.

earlier related report
US, Asian allies urge China to rein in NKorea
Washington (AFP) Dec 6, 2010 - The United States, South Korea and Japan all urged China on Monday to help rein in its ally North Korea and vowed solidarity in defending Seoul from any further attacks from the North.

However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her counterparts Kim Sung-Hwan of South Korea and Seiji Maehara of Japan were vague about how they would deal with North Korea's "belligerent" behavior.

The trio met in Washington after North Korea shelled a South Korean border island on November 23, killing two marines and two civilians, and after it revealed a uranium enrichment program that alarmed US scientists.

Kim, the South Korean foreign minister, said the three shared the view that the Stalinist state in Pyongyang would face "severe consequences" if it engages in further provocations.

But it any possible consequences remained unclear.

"We all agree that North Korea's provocative and belligerent behavior jeopardizes peace and stability in Asia," Clinton said at a closing press conference with Kim and Maehara.

"We want the people of South Korea to know that we are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you, and we are deeply committed to your defense."

The chief US diplomat opened the talks with a moment of silence for the dead and injured in what she described as an "unprovoked attack" on Yeonpyeong island.

She agreed with her counterparts that the attack violated the 1953 armistice, while the uranium enrichment program is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and the North's own 2005 commitment to denuclearize.

Clinton nonetheless kept the door open to dialogue with North Korea.

But the North must first repair ties with the South and "cease its provocative behavior" for long-stalled six-party negotiations to resume, she said in agreement with Kim and Maehara.

The allies declined China's invitation to hold emergency six-party talks with Russia in Beijing this month after North Korea shelled the island.

"We appreciate Beijing's initiative to propose an emergency six-party gathering. However, we first need an appropriate basis for the resumption of talks," Clinton said.

"Any effort, of course, must start with North Korea ceasing all provocative and belligerent behavior."

The three diplomats vowed to pursue cooperation with China and Russia but urged Beijing to use its leverage with its ally in Pyongyang.

"We would like China to have a more clear stance in giving warning to North Korea and to contain these provocative actions by North Korea," Kim said through an interpreter, noting South Korea would consult further on this topic with Washington and Tokyo.

"We would hope that China, which chairs the six party talks, (would) play an even greater role in relation to North Korea," Maehara said, also speaking through an interpreter.

Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Satoru Sato told reporters that the ministry's Asian affairs chief Akitaka Saiki will now travel to Russia and China to discuss the outcome of the trilateral meeting.

Obama's National Security Advisor Tom Donilon also met with Kima and Maehara

Donilon said the trilateral consultations "demonstrate the strength of our shared commitment to advancing regional security and stability," according to a spokesman.

The White House said Obama, in a phone call late Sunday, urged his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to send "a clear message" to North Korea that its shelling of South Korean territory and other provocations were "unacceptable."

In the latest US military show of support for South Korea, the Pentagon announced it was sending its top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, to visit Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Officials said Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet South Korean counterparts including new Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin, who replaced Kim Tae-Young when the latter resigned after the shelling.

South Korea's military began a major live-fire exercise Monday, following a major show of naval strength last week by Seoul and its close ally Washington designed to deter Pyongyang from future attacks.

And US and Japanese forces were in the midst of their biggest-ever joint military exercises, which had been scheduled before the shelling of the island.

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that the Obama administration, in an apparent toughening of its approach toward China, has privately started accusing Beijing of "enabling" North Korea to start a uranium enrichment program and to launch attacks on South Korea.

Citing an unnamed senior US official, the newspaper said Washington is moving to redefine its relationship with South Korea and Japan, potentially creating an anti-China bloc in northeast Asia.