Posted on 06/25/2004 3:19:32 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
China Cancels Korea Nuke Talks Ceremony
Fri Jun 25, 1:15 AM ET
BEIJING - China canceled the closing ceremony for six-nation talks on North Korea (news - web sites)'s nuclear program, a Chinese government spokesman said Friday. He gave no reason, but the announcement came a day after the North reportedly threatened to test a nuclear bomb.
The ceremony Saturday, with envoys from the United States, the two Koreas, host China, Japan and Russia, was to have followed three days of talks on U.S. demands for the North to abandon nuclear weapons development.
"The meeting will end, but there will be no closing ceremony," said a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry (news - web sites) office. He would give only his surname, Wang. He refused to say why the ceremony was canceled.
Two earlier rounds of talks in the Chinese capital ended with closing ceremonies that were shown live on state television.
The announcement came after U.S. officials reported Thursday that North Korea's envoy said Pyongyang might test a nuclear bomb if its conditions for freezing its nuclear program weren't accepted.
North Korea reportedly demanded massive energy aid in exchange for the freeze.
Ping!
Ping!
IMHO China wants this impasse to continue. NK and China are allies.
I welcome a NK Nuke test. Of course they will nuke some village, kill 400,000 people so that they do not have to feed them anymore.
I concur. Solving the NK problem only shifts the regional focus onto China.
Hmmm.............
I concur too. Negotiations with Asian states are much more tricky than with Western nations. This impasse serves both China (which can earn some good karma points in the West and pose as a reasonable partner in non-proliferation) and North Korea too.
We should call their bluff, tell them to "stuff it", and walk out.
It's their gameplan. The old "headfake". I'm not buying it.
I would welcome a real N. Korean nuclear test. It would awaken Japan...
That is what worries China most. The ensuing international crisis and the possibility of war could also crash Chinese economy.
[T]he announcement came a day after the North reportedly threatened to test a nuclear bomb... Two earlier rounds of talks in the Chinese capital ended with closing ceremonies that were shown live on state television. The announcement came after U.S. officials reported Thursday that North Korea's envoy said Pyongyang might test a nuclear bomb if its conditions for freezing its nuclear program weren't accepted. North Korea reportedly demanded massive energy aid in exchange for the freeze.Hence the Russian/US/Taiwan submarine deal. The Chinese have been intransigent about North Korea, but have the most to lose over NK nukes. For thirty years the US has kept China moving in a desirable direction due to the existence of the Shanghai Communique. China tried to maneuver using North Korea as a chip, but A) NK hasn't been compliant and B) the issue of so-called reunification (Chinese analogy to anschluss) resonates with the mainland Chinese population (mainly because it has been drilled in to generations of schoolkids' heads). NK's also embarrassed the Chinese one too many times.
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Thanks for the update. I like what you say.
Yea .. but N. Korea is a lose cannon .. and the news of the US helping the surrounding countries defend themselves because of N.K. continuous threats .. I'm sure isn't what China wanted to hear
LOL, yeah and other leading international organizations should chime in too, like the Baltimore Crocheting Club!
--Boot Hill
Japan woke up and smelled the coffee when NK lobbed a missile over thier country. They are the first and largest foreign contributor to our ABM system. Plus, they are seriously looking to purchase teh ABL once it is on-line.
Maybe we can persuade NK to carry out their nuke test in Iran.
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
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