21 September 2005 Blog Home : September 2005 : Permalink
BEIJING - China's success in orchestrating a landmark six-nation accord on ending North Korea's nuclear program has clinched its role as a major peacemaker in the region — regardless of the challenges ahead for the deal, analysts say.
Just hours after the deal was struck, communist North Korea said it will not dismantle its nuclear facilities until it gets light-water reactors from the United States. But Washington has already rejected that demand, calling into question the North's commitment to the accord.
On Tuesday however, Beijing downplayed the comment, urging only that all six countries make good on their promises reached after more than two years of fractious negotiations.
North Korea knows exactly what it has agreed to, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.
"During consultations and moving ahead, we may encounter difficulties of this or that kind," Qin acknowledged.
Beijing appeared jubilant over having bridged the differences between its longtime ally Pyongyang and Washington — as well as its neighbors South Korea, Japan and Russia.
"China has worked to construct a lasting peace in Asia to the benefit of the entire world," said a commentary Tuesday in the communist party's newspaper, People's Daily. "There is no turning back."
It's a pity that the "agreement" seems to have broken down almost immediately as the second article says:
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of intending to disarm the communist country and then "crush it to death with nuclear weapons" — two days after a landmark disarmament agreement that was expected to ease tensions.
North Korea pledged to give up its nuclear weapons program in return for economic aid and security assurances at six-nation talks in Beijing on Monday — the first breakthrough in more than two years of negotiations.
However, the country's rhetoric since then has cast doubt on its commitment to the agreement and underscored its unpredictability, though none of its negotiating partners say they expect a breakdown in the disarmament talks, scheduled to continue in November.
"The ulterior intention of the United States talking about resolving the nuclear issue under the signboard of the six-party talks is as clear as daylight," the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"In a word, it intends to disarm and crush us to death with nuclear weapons," the commentary said.
Washington has repeatedly denied North Korean allegations that it is planning an attack.
It seems like the Chinese are learning their diplomacy from the UN the signed piece of paper is the important bit and the actual implementation is the sort of tedious details that should be ignored.