China yesterday warned its ally North Korea of unspecified "serious consequences" if it carries out its first nuclear weapons test -- Beijing's sharpest rebuke yet in response to Pyongyang's stated intentions.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun echoed the sentiment by reportedly ordering his government to send North Korea a "grave warning" about the ramifications and to draw up a "contingency plan" if the regional standoff worsened.
The growing international outcry against North Korea's threat to conduct an unprecedented nuclear test came as a newspaper with strong ties to the North said the regime was not bluffing.
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya (王光亞) said "no one is going to protect" North Korea, if it goes ahead with "bad behavior."
"I think if North Koreans do have the nuclear test, I think that they have to realize that they will face serious consequences," Wang said on Wednesday.
The comment was China's most forceful public response yet to its ally's announcement on Tuesday, and a break with Beijing's usual conciliatory strategy of avoiding warnings to or criticism of the North. Beijing, the North's main source of food and fuel aid, has appealed for restraint but hasn't said what it might do if Pyongyang detonates a bomb.
Meanwhile, the South Korean president met with his top security council. Roh ordered his government to step up diplomatic efforts to forestall a North Korean test and warn Pyongyang about repercussions, Yonhap news agency said, citing unidentified presidential staff.
The government was also to draw up a "contingency plan" if those efforts fail, the report said. Presidential officials were not immediately available for comment.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was working with the government of North Korea to try to dissuade it from testing.
"We are working with the leadership of North Korea to stop steps that could negatively impact the situation," Lavrov said at a news conference during a visit to Warsaw, Poland.
Earlier yesterday, a pro-North Korean newspaper based in Japan warned that Pyongyang was not bluffing with talk of the test.
"The nuclear test statement was not empty language, but announced on the premise of action," the Choson Sinbo said. "Carrying out a nuclear test is an inevitable conclusion ... under a condition where [the country] declared possession of nuclear weapons in February last year."
The paper, run by an association of North Korean residents in Japan, is not part of the North's official media but is considered one of its propaganda tools. Its articles are believed to reflect the country's position.
The chief US envoy to the stalled North Korean disarmament talks said on Wednesday that the US has directly warned North Korea not to test a nuclear weapon.
"We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said.
The US passed a message of "deep concern" to the North through diplomatic channels at the UN in New York, Hill said. He did not elaborate on the message's contents. He said the North Koreans had yet to respond.
"We are not going to accept a nuclear North Korea. If they think that by exploding a weapon, that somehow we will come to terms with it, we won't," Hill told reporters after an appearance at the Johns Hopkins University's school of international studies. "If they think that firing off a weapon will somehow make them a part of some sort of nuclear club, they should think again."
also see story:
Editorial: N Korean crisis in Abe's hands
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique