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BEIJING – China on Thursday rejected Sen. John McCain's suggestion that it lean on North Korea to rein in its nuclear weapons program, saying that such a move would not bring results. In neighboring North Korea, meanwhile, Kim Jong Il cemented his leadership of the isolated nation despite apparent ailing health from a stroke eight months ago. A rubber–stamp assembly re–elected him as chairman of the National Defense Commission, the nation's top position. It marked a new boost for Kim following Sunday's launch of a rocket, which the West decried as a disguised test of a long–range ballistic missile designed...

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Senator John McCain urged China on Thursday to take a firmer stand against North Korea following Pyongyang's latest rocket firing, saying Beijing had more leverage than any other country to influence the North's behavior. The Arizona Republican said stronger measures were needed in response to Sunday's launch, including sanctions at the U.N. Security Council. Both Beijing and Washington are veto-wielding permanent members of the body. "I want to say very frankly what we all know, and that the nation that has true influence over North Korea" is China, McCain said in remarks to reporters following meetings...

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo on Wednesday met with visiting U.S. Senator John McCain. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, said China-U.S. relations had gone through a smooth transition and had got off to a good start since the new U.S. administration took office in January.

HANOI, Vietnam -- Sen. John McCain paid a quiet visit to the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where he was held for more than five years during the Vietnam War on Wednesday, making a few deadpan remarks as he made his way through dark corridors and past musty cells. McCain allowed reporters to follow him while he escorted Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina through the prison. -snip-

HANOI (AFP) — US Senator John McCain leaned over a miniature mock-up on of the Vietnamese prison where he was held for years as a wartime prisoner. "I'm trying to figure it out," he said, studying the scale model on a return visit to the prison site that is now a museum.

The mistakes liberals like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are making can teach Republicans how to regain power—and how to hold onto it. In recent weeks, I’ve been critical of some of the most hard-core ideological elements of the GOP. As a consequence, some have requested I leave the party altogether, and say that I am now an unwelcome member. Let me be clear: No one wants the Republican Party to succeed more than I do. I spent nearly two years on the road during my father’s presidential campaign, in my early twenties, surrounded by hygienically deficient, middle-aged political strategists...

    

HANOI (AFP) — Vietnam and the United States must take the "next step" in their relationship, beyond the normalisation that followed years of war, Senator John McCain said during a visit Tuesday. McCain, who lost his bid for the White House to Democrat Barack Obama in November, called for "a modernisation of our ties commensurate with Vietnam's rising status in the region and in the world." In a speech applauded by students at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, McCain, 72, said the two countries should have closer economic and military ties.

HANOI (AFP) — Vietnam and other United Nations Security Council members should take a strong stand against North Korea's missile programme, a visiting US senator said Tuesday. Republican Lindsey Graham made the comment after Pyongyang hailed its weekend rocket launch as a victory that put a satellite into orbit, but the United States and its allies say the satellite never made it into space and Sunday's launch was really a ballistic missile test that failed. "Vietnam sits on the Security Council and we would urge Vietnam along with China and all members of the Security Council to take a strong...

Vietnam wants to increase multifaceted cooperation with the US for peace, stability and development in the region and the rest of the world, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung while receiving Senator John McCain in Hanoi on April 7. Mr Dung told his guest that the Vietnam-US relationship has developed well on the basis of positive friendship, mutual respect and multifaceted cooperation. He noted with satisfaction the effective investment and trade ties between the two countries, saying bilateral trade reached US$15 billion in 2008 and the US was one of Vietnam’s top 10 foreign investors. He proposed that the US...

HANOI (AFP) — US wartime use of the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam remains an issue between the two countries despite remarkable progress in relations, Senator John McCain said Tuesday. "I think it remains an issue both in Vietnam and the United States," McCain told reporters. . . . . . McCain said the United States has spent about 46 million dollars in Vietnam compensating victims and attempting to find areas that are contaminated by dioxin. "But I believe that it remains an irritant, and perhaps more than that, for some of the people of Vietnam. But I think we...

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — U.S. Sen. John McCain, on a visit to Vietnam where he was held prisoner of war, urged the Hanoi government Tuesday to follow through on economic progress with political reforms and improvement in human rights. "Along with economic development must come political development as well as increased respect for human rights" McCain told a news conference.

Looks like Meghan McCain has a shot at being Tila Tequila's new bff. The daughter of former presidential candidate John McCain was spotted having lunch with the MySpace minx-turned reality TV star in West Hollywood last week -- and apparently the two have a lot in common. "People may think we are so different, but she is a Scorpio and I'm a Scorpio and we have very strong opinions about things," Tila Tequila told Usmagazine.com Sunday. Meghan "is a really good friend of mine," she said.The two dined out at the posh Chateau Marmont after contacting each other through Twitter,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Monday threw his support behind Defense Department plans to refocus spending for key defense programs. "I strongly support (Defense) Secretary (Robert) Gates' decision to restructure a number of major defense programs," McCain said in a statement.

Talk show host Michael Reagan invited John McCain to call into Reagan's radio show on Tuesday, February 29. McCain obliged, and what follows is a transcript of their brief and tense conversation, aired nationally on more than 220 radio stations. This transcript was provided by the Bush for President Campaign.Michael Reagan: This is an interview I tried to do earlier today with John McCain... It would be choosing the judges if John McCain becomes President of the United States, and will they be liberal judges, or will they be conservative judges? That's an issue many people would like to get...

HONG KONG (AFP) — US Senator John McCain questioned China's commitment to restraining North Korea, and called Monday on Beijing and Moscow to back punitive sanctions after the hermit state's rocket launch. McCain, who stood unsuccessfully for the US presidency last year, said the reaction from Beijing and Moscow to Sunday's launch -- they urged restraint in handling the North -- had been "predictable." "We all know that the major influence on North Korea is China. Everyone knows that," McCain said. "The Chinese have been, I think, less than committed to restraining North Korea's activities." He said statements by China...

US Senator John McCain will stop over in Hanoion April 6 during his week-long Asian tour. He is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Institute for International Relations and host a press briefing. He will also visit Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) Prison where he was imprisoned during the Vietnam War.

The Illinois congressman, 27, is getting attention from paparazzi and politicos, and he's prepared to take full advantage of it. BY JAMES OLIPHANT Reporting from Washington -- He is the Republican Dream Date, a smooth-speaking, polished product of Illinois, as comfortable with Facebook as a face-to-face. John McCain's daughter gushed over him as the future of the party. He blogs for the liberal webzine Huffington Post, which said he sports the best abs in Congress. TMZ trails him like a pop star. And he is two decades younger than Barack Obama. Aaron Schock, 27, hasn't wanted for attention since being...

When we remind people that elections have consequences, we’re usually talking about the outrage that comes from appointments to the executive and judicial branches. They have other consequences on policy and legislative priorities, as John McCain “forcefully” reminded Hispanic immigration activists at a meeting last month. National Journal reports on the fallout today.

Maybe John McCain has learned something from his election loss, like it doesn't pay to be a R.I.N.O.. According to a report in the National Journal that was precisely the message McCain gave a Hispanic leaders when they complained about Obama's lack of movement on immigration issues During the ramp-up to the 2008 election, McCain became the symbol of a weak immigration policy as he sponsored a plan which included amnesty for illegal aliens. McCain's reward for alienating his Republican base was a 2-to-1 Hispanic support for his opponent during the presidential vote.