North Korea yesterday came under increasing pressure from its traditional allies China and Russia to return to multi-party talks on eliminating its nuclear weapons program.
The diplomatic offensive came as the US said the six-nation talks were the only appropriate forum for negotiations and South Korea said it would urge Beijing to use its influence with Pyongyang to bring the North back in.
The isolated Stalinist regime on Thursday announced it possesses nuclear weapons and was dropping out of the multilateral talks, accusing the US of planning to invade.
China at the weekend said it would maintain the pressure on the North, with Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
"[China] will strive to make the situation develop in a positive direction so that the six-party talks could resume as soon as possible," Li was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying in the telephone talks Saturday.
Russia, traditionally considered sympathetic to the North, issued an unusually strongly worded statement that Pyongyang would have made the "wrong choice" if it decided to quit the discussions.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of security experts in the German city of Munich Saturday: "If the information in question proves accurate, I would say that North Korea has made the wrong choice."
"I believe we should do all we can to keep that state in the treaty framework," he said.
The reactions highlighted growing US-led international pressure on the North since it claimed to have already developed nuclear weapons.
Speaking in Washington, where he has been holding talks with US officials on the standoff, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Seoul would meanwhile try to persuade China to draw the North Koreans back to the talks.
Ban was to meet Rice today to discuss the issue.
"We shared the understanding that China intensify its effort to persuade North Korea and we've agreed to undertake diplomatic efforts toward that goal," Ban was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
China plans to send an envoy to Pyongyang this month in an attempt to get the talks to resume, according to Seoul officials.
Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, will soon visit North Korea to discuss the nuclear issue, Seoul's YTN television said yesterday. Officials in Seoul and Beijing declined to confirm the report.
The nuclear issue is also expected to be a key agenda item when Japan's defense minister and foreign minister visit Washington on Feb. 19.
The US, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan met for three rounds of talks until June last year. But a fourth round failed to take place as planned in September, with Pyongyang accusing Washington of a "hostile" policy.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
RSS