The US' top North Korea negotiator has denied that China is making its cooperation in defusing the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis conditional on US efforts to press Taipei into accepting Beijing's demands on Taiwan.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Christopher Hill, the top US negotiator to the six-party talks in Beijing, made his comment at a press briefing in Washington for the international media.
He was in Washington to report to the government after a recess in the fourth round of talks. A stalemate was reached over the weekend following Pyongyang's demands regarding its nuclear-power program.
Asked about speculation that China has linked the Korea and Taiwan issues, Hill issued a categorical denial.
"I've heard this issue about these, you know, tradeoffs with Taiwan, but I've only heard it in the media," he said in response to a reporter's question. "I have never ever -- and I've had numerous discussions with the Chinese about DPRK [North Korea] and the nuclear problem, and we have never mixed up the Taiwan issue," he said.
"Although, obviously, we've talked about the Taiwan issue many times, but never in connection with the DPRK's nuclear problem. So I can put that to rest right now," he said.
While there has been speculation for years about Beijing tying North Korea negotiations to the Taiwan issue, Beijing has not made any link explicit.
US officials have denied it, as have other specialists and sources in Washington over the years.
However, Hill's denial is the most authoritative and definitive to come from the administration.
In his position in the current six-party talks, and in his previous position as ambassador to South Korea, Hill has probably had more experience on the matter than anybody in Washington, and has probably talked with the Chinese leadership about the issue more than any other US official.
The latest round of talks broke down on Sunday when North Korea unexpectedly made a late demand for the right to operate light-water nuclear reactors, which US officials fear Pyongyang could use to develop nuclear weapons.
As a result, the talks are in a three-week recess after progressing for nearly two weeks. The talks could resume as soon as next month.
China and the US have regularly criticized each other for their actions -- or lack of action -- in bringing the nuclear issue to a resolution, but in the latest round of talks the atmosphere between the two nations was reported to be much more congenial.
Nevertheless, despite past criticism from Beijing, Washington sees Chinese cooperation as vital to any efforts to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. As a result, there has been persistent speculation that China has leaned on US officials for concessions on Taiwan as the price for cooperation on Korea.
Such speculation peaked during the end of 2003 and early last year, when US President George W. Bush and his administration adopted a decidedly unfriendly stance toward President Chen Shui-bian (
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS