I Remain A Fan Of The Six-Party Talks In Relation To North Korea
My Love Is An Unrequited Love
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Featured Stories | Foreign Affairs — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
But two of the six parties appear to be overly sanguine in response to North Korea's increasing efforts to get nuclear weapons (read on):
Russia and China on Thursday opposed tough sanctions the U.S. wants to impose against North Korea this week for its claimed nuclear test, saying they want more time to work out a more moderate response to Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship.
The United States and Japan, which has already imposed tough unilateral sanctions on the North to protest the reported test Monday, had initially hoped for a U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday. But if Washington wants to get China and Russia - the two council nations closest to Pyongyang - on board, a vote could be delayed until early next week.
China, the North's closest ally, opposes any mention of the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7, which authorizes punishments including economic sanctions, naval blockades and military actions. China and Russia want to see sanctions focus primarily on reining in North Korea's nuclear and weapons programs.
Beijing and Moscow also object to the wide scope of financial sanctions and a provision authorizing the inspection of cargo going in and out of North Korea, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks are private. There is concern among some diplomats that boarding North Korean ships could lead to a military response from the North.
The U.S. circulated a revised draft resolution late Wednesday, formally introduced it in the Security Council on Thursday and said it would be put in a final form that can be put to a vote on Friday. Britain, France, Japan and Slovakia signed on as co-sponsors.
"We're certainly in favor of keeping all the diplomatic channels open, but we also want swift action, and we shouldn't allow meetings, and more meetings ... to be an excuse for inaction," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.
But Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the U.S. should wait for the results of more diplomacy. China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya agreed, saying Beijing would welcome more talks so the Security Council can send a united and forceful message to Pyongyang condemning its reported test Monday.
Churkin said "the international community will easily understand if on the matter of this gravity and importance, the Security Council will take a few more days to have a reasoned and united response to the challenge we face from this explosion in North Korea."
"We think that there should be a strong reaction, but it has to be a cool-headed reaction," he said.
This is quite clearly a developing story and I don't want to prejudge its outcome. But I have to ask: What does it take for the Russians and the Chinese to conclude that Chapter 7 sanctions might eventually be necessary--especially given the manner in which the Chinese were made to look like fools by North Korea's attempt at belligerent behavior? Do the Russians and Chinese view North Korea as a pawn that can be used to check American power projection in Asia? If so, the effort is self-defeating; the two countries appear to be bound and determined to make it all the more easy for South Korea and Japan to conclude that they will need nuclear weapons to check North Korean aggression.
And the following passage is just a beaut:
Without naming the United States, Churkin appeared to take aim at the tough U.S. policy toward Pyongyang and President Bush's inclusion of North Korea in the so-called "axis of evil."
"This resolution would be a very strong statement from the Security Council," Churkin said. "And we know that in this problem, in this part of the world, some strong statements made by others than the Security Council have hurt the entire thing - and have aggravated matters. So we do not want to repeat this on the level of the Security Council."
Matters are careening towards a crisis, and the Russians are worried about the tender sensibilities of the North Koreans when it comes to insults. Up really is down, nowadays.
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I Remain A Fan Of The Six-Party Talks In Relation To North Korea 5 Comments (0 topical, 5 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Of course you have to realize that in addition to having China and Russia as allies, the DPRNK has the entire U.S. MSM and the Democratic Party as allies. One of the most outspoken is the man who had his picture in the Hanoi Museum as a North Vietnamese Revolutionary Hero. How he ever sidestepped the hangman's noose for his deeds is still a mystery today, let alone become a Senator.
I came across a missive from the real American Communist Party a few days ago and it sounded like it could have come from Howard Dean's or Nancy Pelosi's or Dick Durbin's or any other Uber Liberal's mouth. Why won't the Republican Party point out the fact that there is absolutely no difference between the two parties? That a vote for anybody on the DNC ticket is a vote for Joe Stalin's heirs? Are we afraid of being labeled Joe McCarthys? Joe McCarthy was right, wasn't he?
I see a problem with two-party talks with North Korea. I expect they would come away from the talks and give a different story than what was really said and done there.
So, let's have two-party talks that are televised to the world so there can be no mistakes as to what was promised by either side.
I'd support two party talks if US troops were occupying Pyongyang.
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
(meaningful ones anyway) is if we start arming Japan, South Korea and Taiwan with nuclear weapons as a response to North Korea. Only then will there exist a situation that China and Russia don't want.
Pejman, what if a different assumption is in order. What if the Chinese want Kim to have a small, harmless nuclear device? What if Kim is a useful tool in their hands to serve as a device to aid another distraction: Iran?
No one is going to use a North Korean bomb against China or Russia. No one will use an Iranian bomb against China or Russia, either. And there will be no North Korean refugee crisis that isn't manageable as long as Kim remains in power.
So the Chinese hardly lost face, did they?
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill