US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered a top Asia diplomat to stay in China yesterday to look at fresh ways of unblocking the stalled effort to get North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons.
Rice instructed US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill to remain in Beijing to study with Chinese officials new ideas to move the process ahead, instead of accompanying her to Japan yesterday.
"He's continuing the discussions that we had with the Chinese ... on how to make progress in the six-party talks, how to get to a place where everyone is executing the obligations that they have undertaken," she told reporters in Tokyo. "We were having good discussions and it seemed like a good idea for Chris to stay behind and continue those discussions."
Rice replied with a flat and firm "no" when asked if she would elaborate.
Hill had planned to travel with Rice on all three legs of her Asian tour. She has visited South Korea in addition to China and Japan.
Rice also expressed hope that the recent arrest of a US Marine on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa would not damage Washington's relations with Tokyo.
The Okinawa arrest and a series of other damaging criminal accusations against some of the 50,000 US troops based in Japan have stirred anger at the US military presence, which critics blame for crime, noise and pollution.
"We certainly hope that there will not be lasting effects. It's a long-standing and strong alliance," she said. "Our concern right now is to see that justice is done, to get to the bottom of it and our concern is for the girl and her family."
Officials have demanded further steps by US forces to control their troops. The Americans last week restricted thousands of military personnel and their families indefinitely to bases, homes and work places, and pledged to review anti-sexual assault guidelines and training programs.
The North Korea issue has dominated Rice's trip. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that Hill was working on proposals put forward on Tuesday by Rice and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to jump-start the denuclearization talks.
Hill does not plan to meet directly with North Korean officials during his extended stay in Beijing, where he will remain for at least another day, McCormack said.
On Tuesday, Rice won assurances from China that it would use its influence on North Korea to help with the denuclearization process.
In China, Rice reiterated Washington's demand that Pyongyang provide a "complete and full declaration" of its nuclear programs. North Korea says it has already provided such a list.
‘CHINESE ASSET’: The senate cited Bamban Mayor Alice Guo in contempt after a police raid revealed a scam center operating at a facility on land she partially owned The Philippine Senate yesterday threatened to arrest a mayor for contempt during a hearing investigating her alleged ties to Chinese criminal syndicates. The arrest threat came after Bamban Mayor Alice Guo (郭華萍) failed to appear for a second consecutive hearing, citing stress. The case that began in March, when authorities raided a casino in Guo’s farming town of Bamban, has shed light on criminal activity in the mostly Chinese-backed online casino industry in the Philippines. It gained national attention after one senator asked whether Guo might not have been born in the Philippines and could even be a Chinese “asset,” an accusation she
‘DO WHATEVER’: US Representative Nancy Pelosi said on MSNBC the decision was up to Joe Biden, but her lack of a full statement backing him is likely to send a signal The re-election campaign of US President Joe Biden on Wednesday hit new trouble as US Representative Nancy Pelosi said merely “it’s up to the president to decide” if he should stay in the race, celebrity donor George Clooney said he should not run, and Democratic senators and lawmakers expressed fresh fear about his ability to challenge former US president Donald Trump. Late in the evening, US Senator Peter Welch called on Biden to withdraw from the election, becoming the first Senate Democrat to do so. Welch said he is worried because “the stakes could not be higher.” The sudden flurry of pronouncements, despite
THREATS: The Japanese leader signaled concern over Russia’s war in Ukraine, its deepening cooperation with North Korea and Chinese posturing against Taiwan Russia’s deepening military cooperation with North Korea has underlined the need for Japan to forge closer ties with NATO as regional security threats become increasingly intertwined, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Reuters. In written remarks ahead of his attendance at a NATO summit in Washington this week, Kishida also signaled concern over Beijing’s alleged role in aiding Moscow’s two-year-old war in Ukraine, although he did not name China. “The securities of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable, and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its deepened military cooperation with North Korea are strong reminders of that,” Kishida said. “Japan is determined to
‘STARWARS’: The weapons would make South Korea the first country to deploy and operate laser weapons, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said South Korea is to deploy laser weapons to shoot down North Korean drones this year, becoming the world’s first country to deploy and operate such weapons in the military, the country’s arms procurement agency said yesterday. South Korea has called its laser program the “StarWars project.” The drone-zapping laser weapons that the South Korean military has developed with Hanwha Aerospace are effective and cheap, with each shot costing 2,000 won (US$1.45), and also quiet and “invisible,” the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement. “Our country is becoming the first country in the world to deploy and operate laser weapons, and