By Richard Halloran

China was clearly the winner of the first round of what promises to be a long and difficult, maybe even brutal, chain of negotiations intended to persuade North Korea to give up its plans to acquire nuclear weapons. The negotiations surely have enhanced China's diplomatic standing in Asia, as it is the first time since the Communists took power in 1949 under the late Mao Zedong that the Chinese have taken the lead in seeking a solution to a contentious international dispute.

The Chinese pulled together what has come to be known as the Six-Party Talks, which also included Russia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and the United States. They forced the North Koreans into this multinational forum even though Pyongyang swore it would deal only with the United States. The Chinese were hosts to three days of talks in Beijing last week, where they set the agenda and protocols of the meeting.

As widely expected, not much was decided for this first round as each party laid out its position. The North Koreans, confronted with five delegations demanding that they give up their nuclear ambitions, left in a huff and thundered that they would not be back. The Chinese, their prestige on the line, made clear they would insist the North Koreans return to negotiate.

Delegates of six nations join hands before talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis in Beijing: from left, Mitoji Yabunaka, Bureau of the Foreign Ministry of Japan; James Kelly, U.S. assistant secretary of state; Kim Yong Il, North Korea's deputy foreign minister; Wang Yi, China's vice foreign minister; Alexander Losiukov, Russian deputy foreign minister; Lee Soo-Hyuck, South Korean deputy minister of foreign affairs and trade. Associated Press

"To bring about peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula, we continue to take the stance of opposing the North's possession of nuclear weapons. The problem will not be settled through just one or two rounds of talks. It will take time to resolve it."

The United States, the principal campaigner to make North Korea relinquish its nuclear plans, has offered diplomatic recognition and economic aid in return for a verifiable reversal in Pyongyang's nuclear programs. North Korea says it will not consider giving up its nuclear weapons until the United States signs a nonaggression treaty promising not to attack.

At first glance, the nonaggression treaty seems reasonable, since the United States has no plans to attack North Koreans so long as they stay on their side of the demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula. However, that sort of pact would most likely undercut the security treaties the United States has with South Korea and Japan, and it has little chance of being approved by two-thirds of the U.S. Senate, as required by the Constitution.

The Chinese can enforce their will, at least to some extent, on the North Koreans because Pyongyang's economy has been in a downward spiral for a decade, and has been kept from falling apart by outside aid, the bulk of it from China. At the same time, China and Russia, once Pyongyang's supportive allies, have forged ever more lucrative economic and political ties with North Korea's rival, South Korea.

The North Koreans thus had little choice but to comply with Beijing's demand to show up for the talks, and will have little choice in the future. That did not prevent them from expressing their pique with the Chinese by going to Moscow to disclose that they would take part in the six-sided talks.

Until now, China has been in hundreds of negotiations, including with the United States, Russia and the 13 other nations on its borders. Beijing is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and has been active in scores of other international organizations.

In June 2001, China took the initiative in founding the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Before that, however, China had been a passenger rather than a pilot navigating the turbulent waters of a complicated quarrel. Being perceived as the leader in the Six-Party Talks will surely help Beijing fulfill its aspirations to restore China to a powerful place as the Middle Kingdom that dominates Asia.

That is not to say the rest of this voyage will be smooth, by any means. The North Koreans, evidently feeling trapped, have reverted to their snarling and brutish diplomatic tactics. That doesn't make them any less dangerous. North Korea's leaders are neither stupid nor crazy — but they are woefully ignorant. It is the ignorant who are prone to miscalculation, and it is miscalculation that is the greatest cause of war.

Richard Halloran is a former New York Times correspondent in Asia and Washington. Reach him at oranhall@hawaii.rr.com.