Rice pressures Hu on North Korea

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Tuesday, and said she expected to see "more solid" Sino-US relations, state media reported. During her time in Beijing, Rice urged China to put more pressure on North Korea to move ahead with its nuclear disarmament process, and expressed disapproval of Taiwan’s upcoming referendum on joining the United Nations. As reported by Bloomberg, China used the occasion of Rice’s visit to express a willingness to resume a bilateral dialogue with the US on improving human rights in China. The move was seen as an attempt at preventing the Olympics from being used as a pressure point for issues such as political freedom and China’s relationship with Sudan.