China has been playing down a claim this week by North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon that his country had reprocessed its stockpile of 8000 spent nuclear fuel rods and turned the plutonium into weapons.
It should be understood that China has to play down this claim fearing it to be the catalyst for missile defenses. Irregardless the U.S. Navy will begin deploying state-of-the-art destroyers to patrol the waters off North Korea as early as next week in the first step toward erecting a multibillion-dollar shield to protect the United States from foreign missiles
China proliferated to North Korea partly to secure advantage over the U.S. and Japan, with a Taiwan contingency in mind. In a future confrontation with America over Taiwan, Beijing seemed to calculate, China might gain leverage if North Korea precipitated a simultaneous crisis. But China has miscalculated, especially in relation to Japan.
North Korea's provocations are making it easier for Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan's Defense Agency, to secure support for participation with the U.S. in the development of missile defenses.
China has long railed against such defenses because they might nullify China's small nuclear arsenal, and would also create a shield behind which Taiwan could be emboldened to declare independence. But in today's Japan, China's complaints cut little ice. Missile defense is nonnuclear and defensive. Most Japanese will vastly prefer that to the development of offensive capabilities such as nuclear weapons.
Thus China's proliferation policies are backfiring in relation to Japan, as they did with India. China has not been able to stop North Korea from behaving in ways that undercut China's own interests. Now the stakes are growing even higher because North Korea's belligerence risks a new Korean war. #msg-3106234
Posted on Sat, Sep. 25, 2004
ABOARD THE USS CORONADO -- In the first step toward erecting a multibillion-dollar shield to protect the United States from foreign missiles, the U.S. Navy will begin deploying state-of-the-art destroyers to patrol the waters off North Korea as early as next week.
The mission, to be conducted in the Sea of Japan by ships assigned to the Navy's 7th Fleet, will help lay the foundation for a system to detect and intercept ballistic missiles launched by "rogue nations." #msg-4129889
-Am
China doubts Korean claim By Hamish McDonald China Correspondent Beijing September 30, 2004
China is embarking on a new round of diplomacy to keep alive the six-party talks it hopes will settle the confrontation between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons activity.
It will host a visit next month by North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly president Kim Yong-nam, the most senior figure that secretive Pyongyang usually presents to the world in place of top leader Kim Jong-il.
Meanwhile, China has been playing down a claim this week by North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon that his country had reprocessed its stockpile of 8000 spent nuclear fuel rods and turned the plutonium into weapons.
"I have never ever heard about such news," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said at the United Nations. "The official news I've got from the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) side seems not to be exactly the same as what you have heard about."
Refusing to blame China's Pyongyang allies for the stalemate in the six-nation talks, Mr Li said that "new complicating factors and new difficulties" had emerged. "The major difficulty is the exceptional, mutual lack of trust between the DPRK and the United States," he said.
For its part, the US is losing interest in resuming the talks before the US presidential election on November 2.
US Under-Secretary of State John Bolton said Pyongyang was waiting to see whether a change of president would bring a new policy from Washington. "It would be our intention to resume the talks after the election," he said.
But he said that if North Korea continued to insist on an economic reward before scrapping its nuclear weapons and production programs, the US could walk away from the talks and take the matter to the UN. The talks also involve China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
"At some point, you have to ask the question, if the North Koreans are not willing to engage in talks seriously, what the future of the talks is," he said. "If... the Koreans continue to stonewall, then I think the Security Council is the next logical step."
China's North Korean Nightmare Posted September 16, 2004 By Edward Lanfranco
BEIJING -- China's first foray into multilateral diplomacy designed to stave off an international crisis happening on its doorstep is a fortnight away from being declared dead.
North Korea -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- has two weeks to change its mind and honor its obligations made in June 2004, when it agreed to return to the negotiating table of the Six-Party Talks by the end of September.
Northeast Asia is on the precipice of a nuclear arms race that, as a worse case scenario, will more than double the number of countries in the region openly possessing weapons of mass destruction.
Aside from Russia and China, which have had the bomb for decades, North Korea's continued intransigence in moving forward the Chinese-sponsored Six-Party Talks is likely to spur Japan and South Korea attaining WMD to assure their survival.
China says it has no answers since the mysterious explosion and mushroom cloud detected by satellites on Sept. 9 inside North Korea's Kim Hyong-jik County in Ryanggang Province near the Chinese border.
Speaking to the press on Sept. 14, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan challenged a reporter's question about the event and its distance from Chinese territory, saying no one in China heard it.
Kong sidestepped United Press International questions about Chinese radiation and seismic data that would corroborate U.S. and South Korean analyses that it was a non-nuclear event.
Asked about the explosion again on Sept. 16, Kong said, "We don't know what happened."
Most analysts give the Six-Party process two chances of occurring within the next 14 days: slim and none.
If some last-minute miracle produces a fourth round of the Six-Party Talks before Sept. 30, it will be a pro-forma face-saving ritual brokered by the Chinese government after considerable behind the scenes arm-twisting of the isolated Stalinist regime.
Since the end of the third round, North Korean has refused to participate in Six-Party technical working group discussions needed to lay the groundwork for progress in the subsequent round of negotiations.
Now, with the meeting deadline fast approaching, North Korea is using the recent revelations about South Korea's limited uranium and plutonium experiments plus the upcoming U.S. presidential election as excuses to delay, if not kill, the Six-Party Talks.
China's last-ditch effort in the form of a Sept. 10-13 trip led by high- ranking Party member Li Changchun did not succeed. Looking at the delegation roster offers some insight on China's goals during the mission.
Li was a logical choice by the Chinese leadership in reaching out to North Korea. He ranks eighth on the nine-member Standing Committee of the Communist Party Political Bureau. The politburo is the highest echelon of political power in China.
According to his official biography Li, 60, was born in Dalian, Liaoning Province, which abuts North Korea. He joined the Communist Party in 1965 on the eve of the Cultural Revolution and worked his way up the ranks of local politics serving as the city mayor and party chief in Shenyang, the provincial capital, later becoming Liaoning's governor and deputy party secretary.
This part of his career (1965-1990) gave Li numerous opportunities to meet and become familiar in working relations with North Korean counterparts.
Li's rise to the inner circle of power started in the 1980s, when China was led by Deng Xiaoping. He earned a reputation as a bold reformer dealing with the problem of shutting down inefficient state-owned enterprises in Liaoning, part of the northeastern industrial rust belt.
These efforts not only helped put him on the fast track to the top ranks within China, but lend legitimacy to Li offering advice on what North Korea needs to do in reforming its basket-case economy.
The outward purpose of Li's visit was described as regular fraternal contact between the two Communist parties and governments. He was invited by the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the North Korean government.
Information from Xinhua listed Wang Jiarui and Liu Hongcai, respectively the head and deputy of the Central Committee's International Department, plus Ji Bingxuan, executive deputy head of the Central Committee's Publicity Department, as members of the Li entourage.
Other delegates included the Chinese government's Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng, Vice Minister Gao Hucheng from the Ministry of Commerce and Vice Minister Wu Dawei from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Recent public activities by known entourage members offer an interesting perspective on what transpired during China's latest dealings with North Korea.
Wang Jiarui was in charge of the International Conference of Asia Political Parties hosted by Beijing earlier this month. He is known to have met with Communist Party members from Japan and Vietnam. Wang talked with Newt Gingrich and other members of an American Foreign Policy Council delegation in August.
Liu Hongcai met with Kim Hyong-o, leader of South Korea's Grand National Party (the main opposition Party) during the conference to defuse tensions in relations arising over a controversy regarding the nationality of people in the ancient Korean kingdom of Koguryo.
There are no reports of Wang or Liu meeting with North Korean representatives during the conference. Kong could not confirm for UPI if historical controversy was discussed in the DPRK.
Information on the recent doings of Ji Bingxuan is unavailable. He was described by foreign media covering the North Korean trip as "the Communist Party's leading foreign affairs official." This refers to the consultative body within the CPC organization, and not a change in status for Li Zhaoxing, China's Minister of Foreign Affairs, also a party member.
The least important member of the entourage, Sun Jiazheng, had a busy August.
Last month the Culture minister was slapped a lawsuit filed in Australia by the Falun Gong, a cult-like spiritual group banned and largely crushed across the mainland.
Sun also attended events in Hong Kong for the 100th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's birth plus praised the national legislature for approving China's acceptance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convention on "safeguarding intangible cultural heritage."
Scintillating snippets of Chinese television news coverage during the North Korea visit designed to convey a sense of normalcy to the public, included a song and dance performance that Sun and other delegates watched.
The remaining members of Li's government entourage are key parts of the puzzle in figuring out China's agenda on the North Korea trip.
There's been no recent news coverage of Gao Hucheng's activities, but his biography makes him a delegate to North Korea worth monitoring in future economic ties between the two countries.
Born in 1951, Gao earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from a Parisian university in 1985 and joined the party in 1987. He has worked in machinery export and natural resource organizations as well as a senior economist with expertise in planning and finance under the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Gao was promoted to vice minister of China's newly formed Ministry of Commerce in 2003.
Last was the highly significant presence of Wu Daowei. Wu joined the delegation as a vice foreign minister after finishing a three-year assignment as China's ambassador to Japan in August 2004. He was China's ambassador to South Korea between 1998 and 2001.
Wu's mission was twofold, according to several foreign Asian and Western diplomats based in Beijing who spoke with UPI on condition of anonymity.
His stints as China's top representative to South Korea and Japan were employed to brief North Korea on the anxieties and concerns of its two neighbors. Wu also serves as a conduit giving these countries China's interpretation on the situation in North Korea.
On Sept. 11 China's state-controlled news carried separate stories about North Korea's insistence on linking South Korea's nuclear program to the talks as well as the results of Li Changchun's first round of meetings.
After talking with Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly, Li was quoted saying, "the bilateral friendship initiated by leaders of elder generations of the two countries is based on deep historical links and firm political foundations."
While it may sound like palaver from a bygone era to Western ears, Chinese-North Korean relations are truly rooted in shared history as Communist allies weathering the first armed conflict of the Cold War.
Kim Yong Nam spoke highly of "China's independent foreign policy of peace," which "fully demonstrated that China's domestic and foreign policies are correct," according to Xinhua. Some analysts interpret the statements as meaning there is no outward change in the country's stance toward support of the North Korean regime.
At a separate meeting with North Korean Cabinet Premier Pak Bong Ju, Li said the two sides "are willing to further develop bilateral economic and trade cooperation as the two countries are faced with good opportunities and vast potential." These keywords indicate China will continue to dole out economic aid.
The most telling comments came after Li Changchun's meeting with North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-il on Sept.12. Li twice mentioned the need for the two sides to "strengthen cooperation" in international and regional issues.
When UPI asked the Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday why bilateral cooperation needed to be bolstered, given the depth and breadth of ties between China and North Korea, Kong replied: "Our relationship is changing as the situation changes."
In light of the unexplained explosion on China's border, the Xinhua report of Kim Jong-il's comment after meeting with Li takes on a chilling meaning. Kim "expressed his belief that the flower of friendship will blossom more beautifully in the new century."
EDWARD LANFRANCO is a writer for UPI, a sister news agency of Insight.
Japan is not considering revising its pacifist, U.S.-drafted constitution so that the world's second-biggest economy can play a greater security role abroad; Japan is going for pre-emptive strike capability. #msg-4150532
Along with Japan the pre-emptive club would include Australia, the United States, Russia, Israel, Iran, India, Pakistan, North Korea, South Korea and China. #msg-4076677
-Am
Panel finds Japan needs ability to hit enemy bases, media say
2004-10-02 / Reuters / A Japanese defense ministry panel has urged that the military be given the capability to launch pre-emptive strikes, a move that would deviate from Japan's long-held defense-only policy, media said yesterday.
The panel will recommend in a report that the military have the weapons necessary to attack foreign enemy facilities, such as ballistic missile launch sites, Kyodo news agency said, quoting sources close to the panel.
The report by the panel, chaired by the defense minister, will serve as a draft in a government overhaul of military strategy to be completed by the end of this year.
The recommendation is expected to spark debate as it would be a move away from Japan's current policy of limiting its military capability to a purely defensive one.
"A pre-emptive strike would go beyond what current government policy and Article Nine of the Constitution allows," said Takehiko Yamamoto, political science professor at Tokyo's Waseda University.
Article Nine of the postwar constitution renounces the right to go to war and forbids a military, although it is interpreted as permitting forces for self-defense.
Japan's present defense policy is to rely on the United States to attack enemies on its behalf and have the Self-defense Forces, as its military is known, defend the country.
While the government holds the view it has the right to hit enemy bases, the SDF does not have weapons capable of carrying out such attacks.
Kyodo said the report would suggest that the SDF be equipped with surface-to-surface missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers and with modified anti-ship missiles able to hit targets on land.
The panel's suggestions reflect strong concerns regarding North Korea's missile threat, Kyodo said.
In March 2003, then defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament it was worth considering boosting Japan's military capabilities so it could strike foreign missile bases.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rejected the suggestion at the time, but public concerns over North Korea's ballistic missiles remain strong.
North Korea shocked the world when it fired its Taepodong ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, and experts believe it has deployed as many as 200 Rodong missiles, which have a range of about 1,300 kilometers, capable of hitting most of Japan.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
