The US threatened to freeze North Korean assets if Pyongyang did not toe the line in talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program, but a new proposal from China raised hopes for progress.
The six-party talks in Beijing looked in jeopardy yesterday -- their fourth day -- as Pyongyang hung tough, rejecting a South Korean offer of electricity in return for renouncing nuclear arms and insisting on its right to nuclear energy.
"We will never give up our nuclear" program before the US nuclear threat is removed from the Korean Peninsula, North Korean spokesman Hyun Hak-bong told reporters.
"We will just do it our way. For us, we cannot stop our way of peaceful nuclear activities for one minute," Hyun said, reading from a written statement.
But China, hosting the negotiations, put forward a revised draft statement which was thought to acknowledge North Korea's right in principle to an atomic energy program, offering a potential way out of the stalemate.
"We think that this new document is balanced in character, and it includes North Korea's right to peaceful atomic energy and the possibility in the long term of building a light-water nuclear reactor," Russian news agencies quoted Russian chief negotiator Alexander Alexeyev as saying.
The proposal contains "compromise wording which could satisfy both sides," Alexeyev said, referring to the US and the North.
China has asked all parties for a response on its draft by this afternoon, a South Korean official said.
Washington has insisted the North can't be trusted with any nuclear program given its history of pursuing atomic bombs. But North Korea has demanded it be given a nuclear reactor for generating electricity before disarming.
Hyun said Pyongyang would be willing to see the nuclear reactor co-managed and that it would be open to international inspections.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill had said at the start of the day that the talks were at a standstill over the North's demands for a reactor in exchange for its weapons programs. But he said later he had "good" discussions with the North's chief delegate.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US was taking measures to stop the spread of nuclear technology regardless of what happens at the talks, through intelligence sharing and freezing of assets of those involved.
"We're not sitting still, you know, we're working on anti-proliferation measures that help to protect us," Rice told the New York Post in an interview released on Thursday by the State Department.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS