US Secretary of State Colin Powell has arrived in China, where he will seek Beijing's support for the US stance on North Korea and Iraq. Correspondents say China is unlikely to block US action in the Gulf, but that Mr Powell will get a much less receptive audience for his efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme. China has repeatedly criticised Washington's hard-line stance towards North Korea, which announced last year that it was reactivating a controversial nuclear reactor. Powell has called for North Korea's nuclear ambitions to be discussed at a forum made up of many countries, but China says the issue should be resolved bilaterally between Washington and Pyongyang. Powell is on his first visit to east Asia since the North Korea crisis flared up.

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