campbell met separately with chinese vice foreign minister zhang zhijun and cui tiankai in beijing on wednesday. campbell spoke with reporters after the meetings. >> on north korea, i think the united states and china share strong determination to maintain peace and stability. >> campbell told the ministers at the u.s. wants to continue to exchange views with china about north korea. another u.s. official said that china wants to monitor the progress of the new north korean leader, kim jong-un. nhk's correspondent in beijing says that china is exercising caution to avoid provoking north korea. >>> mitt romney is a step closer to becoming the leader of the u.s. republican party. and he got there thanks to eight votes. the former massachusetts governor came out on top in the gop's first contest to pick their candidate for november's presidential elections, squeaking past former senator rick santorum to win the iowa caucuses. official results posted by the republican party of iowa say romney grabbed 30,015 votes and santorum took a 30,007. the pair fought a neck and neck contest all day.

campbell met separately with china's vice foreign ministers zhang zhijun and cui tiankai in beijing on wednesday. campbell spoke with reporters after the meetings. >> on north korea, i think the united states and china share strong determination to maintain peace and stability. >> campbell told the ministers that the u.s. wants to continue to exchange views with china about north korea. another u.s. official said that china wants to monitor the progress of the new north korean leader, kim jong un. nhk's correspondent in beijing says that china is exercising caution to avoid provoking north korea. >>> pro-democracy activists in myanmar say the number of political prisoners released by the government so far falls short of what western countries had expected. the pro-democracy activists say at least 33 short-term prisoners have been freed, far fewer than the more than 1,000 prisoners the united states and european nations have set as a condition for lifting economic sanctions. the activists also say no major political prisoners serving long sentences have been granted amnesty. that includ