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China questions US role in Koreas
[Al Jazeera] China's foreign ministry has said that military threats could not resolve continuing tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The statement by Jiang Yu, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, comes after Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticised China on Thursday for enabling its ally North Korea's "reckless behaviour".
Jiang Yu told news conference that she questioned what Mullen had done for "peace and stability in the region," calling his remarks on China's support for North Korea an "accusation".
| Essentially telling Bambi to put up or shut up, and we know what the response will be ... | 'Enormous influence'
On Wednesday, the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accused China of ducking its responsibility to keep Pyongyang in line, as he announced more joint military exercises with South Korea.
"The Chinese have enormous influence over the North, influence that no other nation on earth enjoys. And yet, despite a shared interest in reducing tensions, they appear unwilling to use it," Mullen said.
"Even tacit approval of Pyongyang's brazenness leaves all their neighbours asking what will be next," he added before heading for Japan for talks on defence cooperation.
James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state will lead a high-level delegation to Beijing next week to consult on developments on the Korean peninsula. Steinberg this week attempted to downplay differences with China, speaking of the "critical role" Beijing can play in the situation and saying it was in the interests of both the US and China to work together.
| So that they'll keep buying our bonds ... |
The day before, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill...
and her counterparts from South Korea and Japan had held talks in Washington which ended with a call for China to do more.
The US is expected to "speak to China to tell North Korea in more clear language not to make provocations", Kim Sung-Hwan, the South Korean foreign minister told news hounds, upon his return from the United States.
Posted by: Fred 2010-12-10
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