US urges China to be ‘firm’ with DPRK: Talk of ‘World War III’ brushed aside
WASHINGTON, July 5: The United States warned on Wednesday that China must be ‘very firm’ with North Korea (DPRK) over its missile tests, but said shockwaves from the launches fell well short of a ‘World War III’ situation.
In its reaction to the missile tests, China refrained from condemning North Korea, only urging all sides to ‘remain calm and exercise restraint’, with analysts saying Beijing will not endorse a tough response.
“We are seriously concerned about the incident that has already happened,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
“We hope the relevant sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, do more that is beneficial to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in northeast Asia, and refrain from actions that will increase tensions and complicate the situation,” said the statement on the ministry’s website.
Analysts said although China was angered by North Korea’s missile tests, it will not support strong action because it fears the Pyongyang government could collapse and destabilise its neighbours.
As Washington’s envoy to talks on the North Korea nuclear crisis, Christopher Hill, prepared to launch a diplomatic shuttle in Asia, fallout mounted from seven launches which triggered international outrage.
White House and State Department officials stressed the seriousness of the situation — but downplayed suggestions of a full-scale global diplomatic crisis — and again ruled out direct talks with Pyongyang.
“There are attempts to try to describe this almost in breathless World War III terms. This is not such a situation,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Pyongyang had ‘miscalculated’ if it thought the tests — including that of a Taepodong-2 long-range missile which could theoretically hit US soil — would divide Washington and its Asian allies.
“There has been a very strong response to their actions. So whatever the motivations, whatever they thought they were doing, they have gotten a strong reaction from the international community,” Ms Rice said.
She did not specify which steps Washington might be considering to punish Pyongyang’s actions.
But she added: “Of course the international community does have at its disposal a number of tools to make it more difficult for North Korea to engage in this kind of brinksmanship.”
Mr Hill signalled the flavor of US diplomacy by warning in an interview with CNN International that Beijing, host of stalled six-party talks on North Korea, must now play a crucial role.
“We need China to be very, very firm with their neighbours and frankly with their long-term allies the North Koreans, on what is acceptable behaviour and what is not acceptable behaviour,” said Mr Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
US officials have long pressed China, a major donor of economic and energy aid to North Korea, to pressure Kim President Jong-Il to dismantle missile and nuclear programs.
DIRECT TALKS: The White House once again ruled out the direct talks which Pyongyang has long craved with Washington.
“This is not a US-North Korea issue, and we are not going to permit the leader of North Korea to transform it into that,” Mr Snow told reporters.
He also declined to get into specifics on whether Washington would seek more sanctions against Pyongyang, but hinted that any measures would be designed to shield the North Korean people.
“We don’t want to punish the North Korean people. They’ve been punished enough by their government,” he said.
In the past, US officials have said they will not use humanitarian aid as a lever in their various sanction regimes against Pyongyang.
In an apparent effort to downplay the crisis, Mr Snow also said President George Bush had not reached out to any world leaders and that Cuba, not North Korea, dominated an early US National Security Council meeting.
The UN Security Council, meanwhile, held emergency consultations.
“By the tenor of the statements of all of the council members, I think there is support for sending a clear signal to Pyongyang,” said US ambassador to the UN John Bolton.
“We’ll proceed to see if we can’t get that done in the next few days.”
Mr Bolton said before the talks that Japan would introduce a draft resolution, while Japan’s deputy UN ambassador, Shinichi Kitaoka, would not say flatly whether the measure would call for sanctions but added: “We are thinking about that.”
Ms Rice had spoken to the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan, China and Russia, said Mr Snow.
Mr Snow characterised the missile launches as neither a surprise, nor an immediate threat to US territory, and said Washington believed that the Taepodong-2 missile North Korea fired had failed seconds after launch.
Investors on Wall Street were spooked by the tests, analysts said, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 82.76 points (0.74 per cent) to 11,145.26 and the tech-rich Nasdaq composite 37.69 points (1.72 per cent) lower at 2,152.74—AFP
