DANISH PM REINFORCES NORTH KOREA MESSAGE WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L COPENHAGEN 001366 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2016 TAGS: PREL PARM UNSC DA SUBJECT: DANISH PM REINFORCES NORTH KOREA MESSAGE WITH CHINESE AMBASSADOR REF: COPENHAGEN 1355 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sandra Kaiser, reasons 1.4b,d ¶1. (C) In a meeting October 6 with Chinese ambassador to Denmark Xie Hangsheng, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen underscored the importance of taking a coherent, coordinated and firm line in the UN Security Council in response to North Korea's nuclear test threat, and received assurances of Chinese cooperation toward that end. Rasmussen's national security advisor, Bo Lidegaard, telephoned Ambassador Cain in Helsinki shortly afterwards to brief him on the PM's exchange with the Chinese ambassador. Lidegaard reported that Ambassador Xie declared that his government was encouraged by yesterday's progress in New York, and pledged that Beijing will do its part to urge North Korea to take the international community's response seriously and return to the Six Party Talks. ¶2. (C) Comment: Lidegaard's call attests to Denmark's desire for continued close consultation with us on this and other UNSC issues, especially in these final months of its tenure on the Council. As noted reftel, the Danish government supports the strongest common response to Pyongyang's provocation and views Chinese engagement as critical. KAISER