China Responds to North Korea’s Nuclear Announcement
The Chinese appear to be losing their patience with North Korea also according to this New York Times piece.
China on Sunday publicly called for the Korean peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons and urged North Korea to return to regional talks regarding its nuclear program. State-run Chinese media and censored Internet chat rooms were uncommonly critical of Pyongyang for having announced Thursday that it had manufactured nuclear weapons.
The official New China News Agency reported Sunday morning that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of China had spoken by phone on Saturday night with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Mr. Li called for the regional negotiations to resume as soon as possible and for the “denuclearization” of the peninsula, the agency said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry had made similar points late Thursday night but at a much more junior level, with the statement issued in the name of Kong Quan, the chief spokesman. Bush administration officials have made little secret of their hope of recruiting China’s help to put pressure on North Korea.
China has more influence with North Korea than any other country does, providing it with much of its fuel, food and other supplies – although even Chinese influence has proved limited at times.
The broad criticism by state-run media is important because the Chinese government has tended to take a protective position, at least in public, toward North Korea, its neighbor and sometime ally.
National television news on state-run CCTV gave heavy coverage on Saturday to international condemnation of North Korea and demands that it return to regional talks about its nuclear program. Little effort was made to explain North Korea’s position – that it needs a nuclear deterrent to prevent the United States from attacking someday.
Hopefully China will keep the pressure on the Norks because they are key to influencing them into giving up their nuclear ambitions.
