NK Nukes Threaten US-China Ties: Experts

Korea Times | February 1 2005

The standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs is threatening to destabilize relations between the United States and China, experts at an international conference in Seoul warned Monday.

South Korean, Chinese and U.S. academics outlined starkly differing perspectives on the protracted nuclear crisis during the half-day World and Northeast Asia Peace Forum (WNPF) conference at Ewha Womans University.

``China and Washington view possible future scenarios to the Korean crisis quite differently,’’ said Jon Wolfsthal, deputy director for nonproliferation at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C.

``North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapon capabilities and the failure of the six party talks to produce concrete results threatens to further undermine stability in East Asia and could put U.S. and Chinese interests in direct confrontation,’’ he told the symposium, which was co-hosted by the university’s Institute for International Trade and Cooperation.

Wolfsthal, who presented a paper entitled ``China’s North Korea Policy from the U.S. Viewpoint,’’ said Washington is frustrated by Beijing’s unwillingness to strongly pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Hardliners in U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration could try to use the nuclear crisis as ``an excuse to push for a more confrontational approach vis a vis China,’’ the U.S. nonproliferation expert said.

China, on the other hand, is seeking to keep the dispute simmering while it pursues its top priority of reclaiming sovereignty over Taiwan, Wolfsthal argued.

Sun Ru, who presented a Chinese analysis of U.S. policy on the nuclear issue, also expressed concerns about the future of Beijing-Washington ties but believed their cooperation at the six-party nuclear talks is encouraging.

``China did not want to be dragged into the issue in the beginning, but it quickly readjusted its policy and undertook more responsibilities,’’ the research fellow at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations said.

However, Sun blamed the U.S. for triggering the nuclear crisis, saying Washington is ill-informed, suspicious and lacks sympathy for North Korea. ``U.S. policy as a whole accounted for the outbreak of the nuclear issue,’’ he said.

North Korea’s nuclear threat is also providing a ``convenient excuse’’ for the U.S. military to strategically realign its forces in Northeast Asia, he argued. ``The U.S. could justify its necessity to maintain approximately 100,000 troops in the Asia Pacific region,’’ Sun said, adding that if Pyongyang refuses to denuclearize, the U.S. may consider taking military action.

Jang Sung-min, former Millennium Democratic Party lawmaker and president of the WNPF, delivered a welcoming address at the conference presenting the forum’s goal of promoting peace in the Northeast Asian region and globally.