Wednesday, Feb 12, 2003
Wednesday, Feb 12, 2003 |
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By P.S. Suryanarayana
China once again urged DPRK and the U.S. to hold direct talks on Pyongyang's nuclear profile as soon as possible, while the American Ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker, underlined there was still some diplomatic space left to try and deflect North Korea from its nuclear-weaponisation path. Taken together, the parties directly concerned with the North Korean question left the door open for a diplomatic solution to the threatening nuclear crisis, but there was no tangible forward movement at this moment. Mr. Solana, who held talks with the Japanese leaders in Tokyo over the week-end, today met the South Korean President, Kim Dae-jung, and the Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Choi Sung-hong. While the E.U. official was mindful of the need for a pro-active role by the organisation, the South Korean Foreign Minister is understood to have called for a visit to Pyongyang by a European Union delegation with a mandate to persuade the Kim Jong-il regime to take a U-turn and retrace its steps across the nuclear Rubicon. Even as the E.U. might mull over a direct dialogue with the North Korean leaders in Pyongyang itself, China and the U.S., two players with arguably greater influence in determining the mood and methods of Pyongyang, stepped in with their updated comments. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Zhang Qiyue, said in Beijing today that "from an historical and practical perspective, the 1994 DPRK-U.S. Framework Accord remains the important basis for de-nuclearisation (on the Korean peninsula) and it should continue to be safeguarded''. The substance of a solution should, in China's view, "guarantee the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula while heeding the security concerns of the DPRK''. even while reiterating China's support for a U.S.-DPRK dialogue, an old theme in Beijing's foreign policy, Ms. Zhang maintained that her country would "contribute (its) share to a peaceful solution'' and that the issue could eventually be resolved peacefully if "all relevant parties'' were to make "constructive efforts''. This aspect of not opposing multilateral efforts is a relatively new nuance in China's evolving approach as regards North Korea. The U.S. envoy in Japan reiterated that Washington had "no intention of invading the North (the DPRK)''. This message, delivered in the context of the U.S. President, Mr. George Bush's recent remark about "all options'' being "on the table'', was meant to reassure Pyongyang even as Washington raised the stakes over Iraq's nuclear profile. Mr. Baker said "we are prepared to have direct talks with them provided they modify their threatening behaviour''. Lest this be construed as an olive branch for a blanket bilateral dialogue with Pyongyang. North Korea, he said, "must freeze activities at its plutoniu0m complex and dismantle its enriched uranium programme'' and "cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency'' and also "comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty''.
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