It is easy to condemn the reckless and destabilizing behavior of North Korea. The regime of ruthless dictator Kim Jong-il has done little to elicit sympathy from anyone who has compassion for that brutalized population or concern for the well-being of the millions of people in the region whose lives he has endangered.
But it is difficult to propose a solution to this continuing problem. Why is that so? Why have years of talks ended fruitlessly? Why have threats, promises, enticements and material rewards had no effect on the behavior of the dictator in Pyongyang?
While Tokyo has been busy lobbying the region to censure Pyongyang over the tests and to back sanctions against the North Korean regime, and while the US has been busy setting up a UN Security Council meeting on the matter, what has China's response been?
"China and North Korea are friendly neighbors," said a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry.
"North Korea's firing of missiles has no relationship with China," the spokeswoman later said, adding: "We hope to see diplomatic tensions resolved through diplomatic efforts and resolve problems through dialogue and consultation."
If insincere banalities can resolve intractable international security issues, then China is doing a wonderful job of dealing with Pyongyang. If Beijing sincerely believes that North Korea's actions have "no relationship with China," then why is it involved in the Six Party talks at all?
Exactly when will the international community recognize that the key to solving the North Korea problem is to bring pressure to bear on Beijing, not Pyongyang?
North Korea is a basket case of a country where human beings are treated as less than chattel and the economy is based primarily on foreign aid donations. How could such a travesty of a nation stand without support from China?
It isn't exactly a secret that most of North Korea's missile and nuclear technology was obtained from or with the assistance of China. And one doesn't need to be an expert in international relations to understand that Beijing is using Pyongyang as a tool to serve its own ends. The mystery is why the international community is allowing this state of affairs to continue.
The Six Party talks have been a failure. Of the countries involved, only two actually see North Korea as a threat: Japan and the US. South Korea's policy toward its northern neighbor is simply too mired in internal politics to be of any use on an international level. Russia is taking part -- to borrow a phrase from George Mallory -- "because it's there."
And China does not want the situation resolved. The ongoing "crisis" is much more useful to Beijing as a vehicle it can use to portray itself as a regional player. North Korea also complicates and frustrates the US in its role as guarantor of regional security, enabling Beijing to set the stage for its own rise to regional power.
What is needed is an alliance of regional states with shared values and interests. In short, what is needed is a regional alliance of democracies with real security clout.
It may seem hopelessly naive to envision an organization in the Asia-Pacific region that works along the lines of NATO, given the failure of SEATO and the downgrading of the ANZUS alliance. It may seem even more naive to say that, as a democratic state with an advanced military and a powerful economy, Taiwan could add a lot to such an organization.
But it is no less naive than believing that another round of Six Party talks hosted by Beijing is going to resolve the North Korean crisis.
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