Dantheman62
05-26-2009, 08:47 PM
WASHINGTON The Obama administration has tough words for North Korea, but it's looking to China and Russia to do the heavy lifting to punish Pyongyang for its latest nuclear explosion.
Whether China is willing to pull away from its traditional ally is an open question given fears of raging instability that might erupt on their common border.
North Korea may have overplayed its attention-getting hand with its test of a nuclear weapon one day and the launch of offensive missiles the next. Or it may be moving its nuclear brinksmanship to a higher and more opaque level.
In either case, the Obama administration's reaction has been measured. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said department spokesman Ian Kelly, had been in touch with her Russian counterpart to press for "a quick, unified response to North Korea's provocative action."
Russia, once a key backer of North Korea, condemned the test. Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, also the Security Council president, said the 15-member body would begin work "quickly" on a new resolution.
China said it "resolutely opposed" North Korea's test and urged Pyongyang to return to talks on ending its atomic programs.
While Russian objections to North Korean behavior were swift, direct and important symbolically, China holds the key.
Cross-border commerce and aid from China keep North Korea afloat economically. China is North Korea's biggest source of food imports, fuel aid and diplomatic support. Many of North Korea's international connections from air transport to financial links are also routed through China or Chinese-controlled territories.
But dramatically shaving its largesse, Beijing is believed to fear, could lead to nightmarish scenarios. One would see regime collapse and a breakdown of North Korea's million-man army, with members of the military armed with AK-47s roaming the Chinese countryside as bandits.
Complicating the multidimensional chess game, key U.S. allies in Asia South Korea and Japan see a fully fledged nuclear North Korea as an existential threat, in much the same way Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran in the Middle East.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_north_korea_analysis
Whether China is willing to pull away from its traditional ally is an open question given fears of raging instability that might erupt on their common border.
North Korea may have overplayed its attention-getting hand with its test of a nuclear weapon one day and the launch of offensive missiles the next. Or it may be moving its nuclear brinksmanship to a higher and more opaque level.
In either case, the Obama administration's reaction has been measured. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said department spokesman Ian Kelly, had been in touch with her Russian counterpart to press for "a quick, unified response to North Korea's provocative action."
Russia, once a key backer of North Korea, condemned the test. Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, also the Security Council president, said the 15-member body would begin work "quickly" on a new resolution.
China said it "resolutely opposed" North Korea's test and urged Pyongyang to return to talks on ending its atomic programs.
While Russian objections to North Korean behavior were swift, direct and important symbolically, China holds the key.
Cross-border commerce and aid from China keep North Korea afloat economically. China is North Korea's biggest source of food imports, fuel aid and diplomatic support. Many of North Korea's international connections from air transport to financial links are also routed through China or Chinese-controlled territories.
But dramatically shaving its largesse, Beijing is believed to fear, could lead to nightmarish scenarios. One would see regime collapse and a breakdown of North Korea's million-man army, with members of the military armed with AK-47s roaming the Chinese countryside as bandits.
Complicating the multidimensional chess game, key U.S. allies in Asia South Korea and Japan see a fully fledged nuclear North Korea as an existential threat, in much the same way Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran in the Middle East.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_north_korea_analysis