Word: pyongyang
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...foreign ministry seldom produce any insight into Beijing's thinking. Last week's briefings were no exception, with a ministry representative doggedly fending off questions about the erratic behavior of China's ally, North Korea. A formal ministry statement blandly stated that China was "seriously concerned" by Pyongyang's July 5 test-firing of seven ballistic missiles, launches that drew international condemnation as a dangerous provocation. Even by Chinese standards, it was a mild response, particularly so because Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had made a pointed and very public request that North Korea refrain from conducting the tests...
...beneath the surface calm, diplomats and analysts said the Chinese leaders were frustrated, even angry, that Pyongyang defied their wishes. "I think the Chinese are as baffled as we are" by North Korea's actions, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said in Beijing last week. Hill was in the Chinese capital to talk with senior officials about how to handle the fallout from the missile launches, which broke North Korea's self-imposed moratorium on such tests. "China has done so much for that country," Hill said, "and that country just seems intent on taking all of China...
...convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to abandon his nuclear aspirations, either with offers of economic aid or threats of economic sanctions, have been unsuccessful?and officials in Washington and Tokyo have often expressed frustration that China hasn't used its considerable leverage to force concessions from Pyongyang. North Korea depends heavily upon China, its largest trading partner and strongest ally, to keep its sick economy on life support. China supplies about half of the $1.8 billion in aid the regime receives annually, including virtually...
...Despite calls by Washington for China to take a larger, more positive role in international diplomacy to match the country's economic stature, Beijing has typically been leery of using punitive measures to prod Kim into line. But this time Pyongyang may have gone too far. On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council, which includes China as a permanent member, unanimously passed a Tokyo-sponsored resolution condemning North Korea's tests and demanding that it immediately suspend its missile program. The resolution also imposed sanctions by barring U.N. member states from trading technology and material with North Korea that could...
...toned-down wording may be a sign of Beijing's ambivalence about how tough to get with Kim, but few doubt its sincerity in wanting to defuse this crisis. Last week, for example, China tried to negotiate with Pyongyang independently, dispatching a Deputy Premier and assistant foreign minister to Pyongyang. "China's really trying," said Hill, who is U.S. President George W. Bush's point man on the North Korea nuclear issue. "We're trying. Everyone is trying except, unfortunately, the D.P.R.K." (North Korea officially calls itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea...