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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China asked to lean on NorKs |
| 2005-09-16 |
| Politely, of course. Demanding things probably wouldn't help. Yet. The United States has urged China to persuade its longtime ally, North Korea, that it should give up its nuclear weapons without receiving a reactor for generating power, hoping to salvage stalled six-nation talks on the North's atomic programs. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Friday the talks were in a "stalemate," with North Korea demanding a light-water reactor before dismantling its nuclear weapons program. The North has been offered economic aid, security guarantees from Washington and free electricity from South Korea in exchange for bowing to demands that it give up the weapons program. "I hope China will feel a certain responsibility to convince (North Korea) to take that deal," Hill said Friday morning before heading to a meeting with the Chinese side. Japan, Russia and South Korea are also participating in the talks. Hill said he thought the Chinese had a responsibility to exercise their influence over North Korea, noting that the two sides had a "very long history." China is the North's last major ally and its leading supplier of food and energy aid. Beijing has earlier called for the sides to seek compromise, with an official saying all reasonable concerns of any country at the talks deserve to be considered. Citing unidentified sources, Kyodo also reported that North Korea told other nations at the negotiations that it would boost its production of nuclear material if its demand for such a reactor is not met. "The basic stumbling block has to do with the issue of providing a light-water reactor," North Korean spokesman Hyun Hak Bong said Thursday in the first comment from the delegation since the talks resumed. The head of Japan's delegation, Kenichiro Sasae, called the situation "extremely difficult" and said the negotiations were at a "deadlock." People who know Japan: what does "extremely difficult" mean in Western idiom? North Korea, "not for the first time, has chosen to isolate itself," Hill said Thursday evening. The country "has a rather sad and long history of making the wrong decision on things." They come after the release this week of satellite photos showing North Korea has resumed some work on a nuclear reactor that could enable it to vastly increase stocks of weapons-grade plutonium, Reuters news agency reported. But the activity seems to be modest, analyst Corey Hinderstein told Reuters. They can't be making more than 10, 15 tops, nukes. That's modest. |
| Posted by:Jackal |
| #2 "I'm comin' over there with a few of my boys..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-09-16 15:41 |
| #1 In that context I would take it to mean the other side is intransigent and stonewalling. Quite a statement for a normally polite and demure Japanese diplomat. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2005-09-16 08:06 |