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U.S. Lawmakers Ask China to Pressure North Korea
A U.S. Senate delegation in Beijing today urged China to do more to bring North Korea back to stalled nuclear disarmament talks, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 10). Senator Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) lauded China’s support for a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Pyongyang’s missile launches last month as “a historic and very significant step.” Others, however, were more critical. “I did express the view that China could do more, having had such a long-standing relationship with North Korea, to help the negotiations,” said Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). Specter said the group also asked about a missile China allegedly sold to Iran that might have been transferred to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. The weapon was fired at an Israeli ship. “The reply came from one of the [Chinese] representatives that sales were made to a sovereign country and it was under an arrangement … that there would not be a resale or a transfer,” Specter said (Reuters/Washington Post, Aug. 11). Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi departed for Mongolia yesterday to discuss the North Korea nuclear and missile standoff, Agence France-Presse reported. “It is natural for the two leaders to exchange views on the North Korean nuclear and missile issue for this occasion,” said a Japanese Foreign Ministry official. “While the two countries have shared a common stance on the issue, we would like to reiterate calls for Mongolian support in finding a solution to this issue,” he said. Mongolia is one of few countries that maintain diplomatic relations with North Korea (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 10).
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