CHINA/JAPAN: China calls for courage and resolve as the first round of talks since North Korea's October nuclear test continue in Beijing

Record ID: 464286

  • Title: CHINA/JAPAN: China calls for courage and resolve as the first round of talks since North Korea's October nuclear test continue in Beijing
  • Date: 18th December 2006
  • Summary: MEDIUM OF REPORTERS WAITING
  • Embargoed: 2nd January 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAAXJHQ6Q4LMK548TCSH4XQV68E
  • Story Text: Delegates from six nations sat down for an opening session of talks aimed at persuading North Korea to forsake its nuclear weapons in Beijing on Monday (December 18).
    Key negotiators are wary over how Pyongyang will respond to the negotiations after staging its first atomic blast.
    The six-party talks are the first between the two Koreas, United States, China, Japan and Russia in more than a year, after the North walked away from negotiations in anger at a U.S. financial squeeze.
    They are also the first since North Korea staged its nuclear test on Oct. 9, drawing massive international condemnation, including from its neighbour, old ally and aid supplier, China.
    Lead Chinese envoy Wu Dawei (pron: woo dah-wei) called on all sides to be courageous and move forward with resolve.
    "I sincerely hope all delegates can demonstrate political wisdom, resolve, and courage and make new contributions to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, the normalisation of ties between relevant countries, and the realisation of a peaceful Northeast Asia," Wu Dawei told delegates at the opening session.
    Lead U.S. envoy Christopher Hill has asked Pyongyang to move on implementing a joint statement agreed in September 2005 in which North Korea agreed in principle to give up nuclear weapons in return for aid and security guarantees.
    Most officials and observers believe that this week's talks in a tree-lined state compound are unlikely to draw swift compromise from Pyongyang, emboldened by its nuclear blast.
    The North's chief envoy, Kim Kye-gwan, showed no softening on the eve of talks, telling Washington to drop financial restrictions if it wants the 2005 accord implemented.
    The U.S. has found a vigorous ally in China, whose traditional support for its communist neighbour has dimmed.
    Most Chinese analysts agree that the nuclear blast, which China publicly warned against, galvanised Beijing policy-makers to pressure Pyongyang more actively.
    In Tokyo, Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma warned North Korea was the biggest threat facing Japan and compared the isolated communist state to Japan in the run-up to World War Two.
    Kyuma, who took up his post in September, spoke as six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme resumed in Beijing.
    "Not only is (North Korea) a totalitarian state, it tests nuclear weapons in that way, and tried to possess nuclear weapons, so we wonder whether there can be any controlling of North Korea. And it makes us uneasy and it irks us to think that we may not have any deterrents vis-a-vis North Korea," Kyuma told Reuters in an interview.
    Pyongyang spooked the region in October by testing a nuclear device, just months after test-firing a series of missiles in July.
    North Korea has also angered Japan by abducting Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to help train spies in the language and customs of the country.
    "From the viewpoint of other countries, it is like pre-war Japan. It is seen as a threat and we don't know what it is going to do next," Kyuma said.
    Japan invaded and occupied much of Asia before and during World War Two, leading neighbouring countries to look with suspicion at any political developments that suggest a drift away from its post-war pacifist constitution.
    The outspoken Kyuma sparked a media fuss this month by saying he believed Japan's government had not officially supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq. He later withdrew this comment, but said that he personally had doubts about whether there had been a need for Japan's closest ally to go to war.
    On the streets of Beijing Chinese voiced support for the talks.
    "I think it should be solved using a peaceful resolution. I think they should sit together and really talk this through," said Beijing resident Fan Wei (pron: fahn way).
    "I really have high expectations for this round of six-party talks. I always hope there will be a better result coming out of the latest round of talks," said Beijing resident Lu Xiangdong (pron: loo hsee-ahng dohng).
    A delegation of officials from the U.S. Treasury Department was expected to meet separately with the North Koreans to discuss the U.S. financial crackdown on Pyongyang's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
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