Asia-Pacific foreign ministers struggled yesterday to formulate a response to escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the US announced fresh sanctions against Pyongyang.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared the sanctions during a visit to Seoul ahead of the Asia-Pacific’s largest security dialogue in Hanoi, Vietnam, where the March sinking of a South Korean warship is a leading issue.
Diplomats from some of the 27 members in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) — including North Korea and its main ally China — said there was disagreement over how far to go in commenting on the sinking of the warship in March.
PHOTO: AFP
However, there was general agreement that the six-party disarmament talks with North Korea should resume as soon as possible, and there were hopes the countries involved would hold informal discussions on the ARF’s sidelines.
“It’s a game of diplomatic brinkmanship,” an ASEAN diplomat told reporters.
Clinton and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun will attend the ARF meeting tomorrow alongside their counterparts from the disarmament talks — China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
Pyongyang abandoned those talks last year but the ARF will place the top diplomats from those countries together in the same room for the first time since the warship sinking dramatically raised tensions on the peninsula.
“While there may not be a formal six-party talks at the sidelines of this conference it would be useful if we can help create conditions conducive for informal dialogue or informal communication to take place,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan wants some form of direct condemnation of the North to be included in the ARF’s final statement, and would oppose any declaration that includes Pyongyang’s denials.
A draft ARF declaration seen by AFP expresses “deep concern” over the sinking of the Cheonan with the loss of 46 lives.
It calls for a return to the six-party talks, but does not acknowledge an international probe which concluded that the warship was sunk by a torpedo from a North Korean submarine.
It also refers to a July 9 statement by the UN Security Council which condemned the sinking, but acknowledged Pyongyang’s denials and did not apportion responsibility — a result hailed as a “victory” by the North.
“We must be careful with any statement that would be seen to exacerbate those tensions,” the Asian diplomat said.
Noting that Pyongyang’s main backer China is a key player at the ARF, he added: “Some ARF members don’t want to push North Korea into a corner.”
Also See: Mullen critical of China limiting ties
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,