Russia, China rule out sanctions: Bush seeks unified response to N. Korea
By Masood Haider
UNITED NATIONS, July 6: Russia and China on Thursday dismissed any possibility of UN-imposed sanctions against North Korea as the US President George Bush called on them to seek a unified response.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the international community to show ‘common sense’ over North Korea’s decision to test-fire missiles as he urged calm on the issue.
The Chinese government again dismissed the idea of sanctions saying that China and North Korea remained ‘friendly neighbours’, and it called for diplomacy as the best way to defuse tensions.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu voiced ‘serious concerns’ about the North Korean missile tests.
But when asked if China would cut back on aid to its neighbour because of the tests, Ms Jiang said, “At present we are not taking this aspect into consideration.”
At the United Nations China’s ambassador told reporters that ‘sanctions’ were not on the cards and China would oppose any sanctions on North Korea.
The United States ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, said before the meeting that the countries that have ‘leverage’ with North Korea ‘bear the responsibility to use that’.
But the White House spokesman, Tony Snow, on Thursday played down the idea of a rift over how to respond.
Mr Snow also warned against expecting a rapid agreement on how to proceed.
“This is not like a sitcom, it doesn’t wrap up in 30 minutes and come to a neat, happy conclusion,” he told reporters.
US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told CNN “what’s meaningful here is what governments say privately, as well as in public” adding “the Chinese have given us every indication that they will stand with us.”
According to reports China said it would send its chief negotiator with North Korea, Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, to Pyongyang for talks July 10-15.
Mr Wu is scheduled to meet on Friday in Beijing with an American assistant secretary of state, Christopher Hill, who represented the United States at the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear programmes.
“Practice tells us dialogue and consultation are effective ways to solve problems,” Ms Jiang said, reconfirming China’s long-standing policy.
Meanwhile, North Korea in a statement on Thursday asserted that Washington’s rejection of direct talks and financial pressure made it more determined to increase its missile capabilities, and insisting that it had a legal right to test missiles.
The statement also responded to American claims that the test of the largest missile, the Taepodong 2, was a failure because the flight lasted only 42 seconds.
“Our successful missile tests were part of a regular military exercise conducted by our military to boost our self-defence,” a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman told the North’s official news agency, KCNA.
“Our military will continue with missile launch drills in the future as part of efforts to strengthen self-defence deterrent,” the spokesman said.
