US pressing China to help create exodus of NK refugees
BEIJING, (Agencies): North Korea mixed smiles with threats and China urged patience Tuesday as the United States and its allies huddled to coordinate their positions on the eve of talks over North Korea's nuclear crisis.
The two protagonists, North Korea and the United States, stand far apart ahead of the six-country talks that are a result of months of frantic diplomacy. Washington demands the unconditional and verifiable scrapping of Pyongyang's nuclear program before making concessions, while North Korea wants security guarantees before dismantling.
Host China - keen to keep the dispute from escalating into a destabilizing conflict or a refugee crisis on its northeast flank - called for respect and calm from all sides after its chief negotiator, Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held separate meetings with the heads of each visiting country's delegation Tuesday.
"The nuclear issue is very complicated and acute, and it is impossible to solve all problems through one or two discussions. Moreover, other issues may arise during negotiations," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying. "China hopes all parties will... show sincerity to solve the issue, adopt a calm and patient attitude, respect each other, conduct consultations on an equal footing, seek common ground and reduce disputes," said Wang. He later gave a banquet for the negotiators.
As part of China's continuous efforts to reassure the North that its security fears will be addressed, Wang said China opposed pressure, sanctions or war. Flying into Beijing airport, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il smiled, waved and clasped his hands above his head before being whisked away in a three-car motorcade.
But in a sign of the high tensions on the Korean peninsula, a South Korean navy vessel fired two warning shots after a North Korean patrol boat crossed a disputed sea border at the world's last Cold War frontier. North Korea renewed a threat to pull out of student games in the South over anti-North demonstrations.
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BEIJING: Washington is trying to convince Beijing to set up camps for North Korean refugees and has offered to help finance them in hopes of applying pressure on Pyongyang, an expert on North Korea said Tuesday. Such a move could create an exodus of North Koreans that, as happened in the former East Germany more than a decade ago, could lead to the collapse of the government, activist Norbert Vollertsen told AFP.
Hungary's decision to open its border with East Germany, following US pressure, led to a flood of refugees that helped bring down the German government. "(US) State Department people told me this," Vollertsen said of the proposal. Vollertsen, a German doctor, has helped hundreds of North Korean refugees in China seek asylum at foreign embassies and said he has been in contact with ranking US officials.
"(US Secretary of State) Colin Powell during his last visit to Beijing was talking about this with Beijing - setting up refugee camps at the North Korean border and providing US financial support for this," he said.
SEOUL: South Korea has successfully test-fired a new anti-ship cruise missile for use by destroyers as early as next year, reports said Tuesday. Yonhap news agency and the Chosun newspaper said the missile, with a range of 150 kilometers (90 miles), was designed by a state research institute affiliated with the defense ministry.
"The domestic cruise missile was successfully test-fired," an unnamed military official was quoted as saying. The ministry refused to conform the report. "Our policy is not to confirm a sensitive report on weapons development," a ministry official told AFP.
The missile hit a target located 70 kilometers off the east coast after being fired from a navy vessel, Yonhap said, adding the missile could be deployed aboard new destroyers as early as next year.
arabtimesonline.com
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Why not the US takes all those NK refugees? such a joke! |
