US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Beijing yesterday for talks expected to focus on pushing forward six party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program.
Rice arrived in Beijing after touring China’s earthquake shattered Sichuan Province.
Her visit comes after North Korea handed in a key declaration last week outlining its nuclear activities and destroyed the cooling tower of its Yongbyon nuclear power plant.
PHOTO: AP
In Sichuan, Rice met children who were made homeless by last month’s devastating earthquake and praised the country’s response to the disaster.
Rice offered her support to those who survived the quake, which left 88,000 people dead or missing and up to 5 million displaced.
“I’ve been tremendously impressed with the recovery, with the resilience of the people,” Rice told journalists after touring the wrecked city of Dujiangyan, near the epicenter.
Besides touring the city that has suffered up to US$7.1 billion in economic damage, Rice visited victims in a make-shift refugee camp.
When Rice dropped into a classroom, Zhou Yifan, a student living at the camp spoke to her in English, saying: “My pleasure to take a photo with you. I often see you on TV, you are a superstar.”
Rice was expected to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) today.
During her talks with China’s leaders, Rice said she would discuss ways to get China’s close ally Myanmar to accept international aid following a typhoon that slammed the country last month.
“It has been sad that the Burmese authorities, instead of making possible the international community’s response to their people, that they have put up barriers to that response,” Rice said. “Many lives could have been saved, perhaps many more can still be saved if we can get that response.”
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS