China Stepping Up?
A formal vote on UN sanctions against North Korea sponsored by Japan has been delayed to give a Chinese delegation time to work at a diplomatic solution.
Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding nations on the Security Council — who are divided over sanctions — met with Japan, which sponsored the resolution, as a Chinese delegation arrived in North Korea pledging friendship and deeper ties.
Bolton told reporters after the meeting that the resolution's supporters — including the U.S., Britain, France and other European council members — decided not to press for a vote Monday "while the diplomacy in Pyongyang proceeds."
"We think it's important to keep the focus on Pyongyang, which after all is the source of this problem, and to provide maximum support for, and leverage on the Chinese mission to Pyongyang," he said.
On July 5, North Korea test-fired seven missiles, apparently including a long-range one that potentially could reach the United States.
The United States wants North Korea to return to the moratorium on ballistic missile launches from the Korean peninsula and to not only return to the six-party talks but implement the joint statement agreed to by the six parties in September, he said.
In that statement, North Korea made a commitment to abandon "all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The six parties — the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia — also reaffirmed that the goal of the talks "is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner."
So, is China going to step up and pressure North Korea or is this a delaying tactic? One hopes the former, but fears the latter.
North Korea | Gaius Monday, 10 July , 2006
By Jenn of the Jungle, Monday, 10 July , 2006 @ 2:44 pm
“So, is China going to step up and pressure North Korea or is this a delaying tactic?”
I’d have to go with the “delay tactic”. But, what they are delaying is the real question.