Hat Tip: Res Ipsa Loquitur
China called Monday for a Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons and urged a diplomatic settlement to the North Korean nuclear crisis. "China hopes to see a nuclear weapons-free Korean peninsula which enjoys lasting peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters after meeting European Union officials and the bloc's outgoing president Greece. "It is important to address the security concerns of a certain country but should there be disagreements or even conflicts between certain countries the only way to solve them is through dialogue in a peaceful manner," he said.
| "So the NorKs might want to consider ceasing and desisting making faces and jumping up and down... |
The United States is stepping up diplomatic efforts to halt North Korea's resumed nuclear program, which, it says, breaches a 1994 accord that was set up to end a similar crisis. The war of words between the United States and North Korea has sharpened since last year when U.S. officials said North Korea had acknowledged a nuclear weapons program. President Bush has branded the Stalinist country part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and prewar Iraq. North Korea has expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors and its state media have issued conflicting statements on its nuclear status, at times accusing U.S. officials of lying but also suggesting it has reprocessed plutonium for bombs. Its foreign ministry said this month that the North would strengthen its "nuclear deterrent force," dismissing the U.S. call for multilateral talks as a tactic to isolate Pyongyang. South Korea has joined with Washington and other regional powers in seeking an end to the North's nuclear program. Zhaoxing, a former ambassador to the United States, said a first round of talks in Beijing in April between North Korea, the United States and China were positive but more needed to be done.
| "We didn't give them enough Prozac the first time..." |
"The Chinese government has made persistent efforts ... and the Beijing talks represented a good beginning. But they were only a good beginning," said Zhaoxing.
It's about time. As Rita (Res Ipse Loquitor) so diplomatically puts it, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..." Nork's "Totally Insane Leader" Kim Jong Il is definitely their bastard child client - so it's good to see them publicly engage, finally. They DID inherit this disaster mess situation from the Soviet Union, who foisted Daddy (The Great Leader, Kim Il Sung) on North Korea back in post WW-II 1948. Is this an example of single parent syndrome, Becky?. |