US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted yesterday that US beef was safe to eat and urged South Koreans to accept their government's decision to lift a ban on the products.
Rice also said she hoped the beef controversy wouldn’t distract from important issues facing the US and South Korea, most notably the six-nation talks over North Korea’s nuclear program.
“In terms of differences that sometimes arise from trade disputes, they are normal in relations between states,” Rice told a news conference.
Rice arrived in Seoul a day after neighboring North Korea destroyed a cooling tower at its main nuclear facility. The demolition followed moves earlier this week by the US to lift sanctions against Pyongyang, in response to the nation submitting a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear programs.
“I expect that the North will live up to the obligations that it’s undertaken, to take those concerns seriously and to address them,” Rice said. “At the end of this, we have to have the abandonment of all programs, weapons and materials.”
In South Korea, the long-running nuclear issue has been of less public concern than Seoul’s agreement to lift a ban on US beef imports in April as a way to restore strained ties with Washington.
Activists have been staging daily rallies on the streets of Seoul to voice their concerns about possible health risks such as mad cow disease. As officials began inspecting US beef on Friday before it can reach markets, hundreds of labor activists blocked customs storage facilities.
“I can only say that American beef is safe and we hope that in time the South Korean people will listen to that and will be willing to listen to what their government is saying and what we’re saying,” Rice said earlier en route to Seoul. “The US believes strongly in the safety of its product.”
US beef had been banned from South Korea for most of the past four-and-a-half years, since the first case of mad cow disease in the US was discovered in late 2003. In the wake of public outrage over plans to resume shipments of US beef, the entire South Korean Cabinet has offered to resign and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has reshuffled his top advisers.
Seoul agreed to resume US beef imports only after US producers agreed to limit shipments to meat from cattle younger than 30 months, believed less susceptible to mad cow disease. The restriction has been deemed a transitional step that will be lifted when conditions change in the South.
“It will take time for that risk to be erased from the minds of the Korean public,” South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said.
A small but loud and angry group of about 15 sign-carrying protesters gathered outside the South Korean Foreign Ministry where Rice was meeting with government officials.
“Stop Rice and Mad Cow,” said one placard. “We Don’t Need US Troops. We Don’t Need Mad Cows,” read another.
A squad of black-clad police surrounded the anti-US demonstration, which was minuscule compared to earlier rallies that drew 80,000 people at their peak but have since dwindled.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the