It's not too late for North Korea's new leadership to mend its ways, Hillary Clinton says. "If they focus on honoring their commitments and rejoining the international community, and on feeding and educating their citizens, the United States will welcome them and work with them," the secretary of state said as her meetings in Beijing drew to a close. She also discussed China's relationship with the US—the two "are now thoroughly and inescapably interdependent"—and how that could be brought to bear on Iran, Syria, and Sudan.

China has signaled that it might support pressuring Iran on its nuclear program, according to the US. But Beijing remains reluctant to act against Syria, US officials say. "It's critical that the international community—including China and the United States—hold the regime accountable for its commitments" under Kofi Annan's peace plan, Clinton said of Syria. Meanwhile, she urged China, which has strong economic ties to Sudan and South Sudan, to push Khartoum to end its attacks on the south