North Korea yesterday came under increasing pressure from its traditional allies China and Russia to return to multi-party talks on eliminating its nuclear weapons program.
The diplomatic offensive came as the US said the six-nation talks were the only appropriate forum for negotiations and South Korea said it would urge Beijing to use its influence with Pyongyang to bring the North back in.
The isolated Stalinist regime on Thursday announced it possesses nuclear weapons and was dropping out of the multilateral talks, accusing the US of planning to invade.
China at the weekend said it would maintain the pressure on the North, with Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
"[China] will strive to make the situation develop in a positive direction so that the six-party talks could resume as soon as possible," Li was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying in the telephone talks Saturday.
Russia, traditionally considered sympathetic to the North, issued an unusually strongly worded statement that Pyongyang would have made the "wrong choice" if it decided to quit the discussions.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of security experts in the German city of Munich Saturday: "If the information in question proves accurate, I would say that North Korea has made the wrong choice."
"I believe we should do all we can to keep that state in the treaty framework," he said.
The reactions highlighted growing US-led international pressure on the North since it claimed to have already developed nuclear weapons.
Speaking in Washington, where he has been holding talks with US officials on the standoff, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Seoul would meanwhile try to persuade China to draw the North Koreans back to the talks.
Ban was to meet Rice today to discuss the issue.
"We shared the understanding that China intensify its effort to persuade North Korea and we've agreed to undertake diplomatic efforts toward that goal," Ban was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
China plans to send an envoy to Pyongyang this month in an attempt to get the talks to resume, according to Seoul officials.
Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, will soon visit North Korea to discuss the nuclear issue, Seoul's YTN television said yesterday. Officials in Seoul and Beijing declined to confirm the report.
The nuclear issue is also expected to be a key agenda item when Japan's defense minister and foreign minister visit Washington on Feb. 19.
The US, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan met for three rounds of talks until June last year. But a fourth round failed to take place as planned in September, with Pyongyang accusing Washington of a "hostile" policy.
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS