China has sounded out the nations involved in stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme about the possibility of holding informal discussions later this month, a Japanese daily reported on Sunday. Tensions have risen recently across the region since U.S. officials said satellite pictures indicated North Korea had begun what appeared to be preparations to launch a ballistic missile that some experts say could reach parts of the United States. According to sources quoted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei in late June summoned ambassadors from the other nations involved in the negotiations to propose holding informal talks in the week of July 17, after the Group of Eight advanced nations summit in Russia. Full Story