 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Abe: Japan still wants NK sanctionChina, Russia positions 'moving closer'
SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Japan still wants a United Nations resolution on North Korea's missile tests that includes sanctions, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said on Friday, Reuters news agency reported. Abe said China and Russia were moving closer to Japan's position on a U.N. resolution. On Thursday, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said there had been no progress made in talks aimed at getting North Korea to halt its nuclear program since Pyongyang's round of missile tests last week. Assistant Secretary of State Hill has been in Asia discussing the North Korean situation with counterparts in China, Japan and South Korea. North Korea, a Chinese ally which counts Beijing as its major trading partner, broke its own moratorium by launching seven missiles on July 5 over a 14-hour period, sparking an international outcry. Although senior Chinese diplomats had been working hard to convince the North Koreans to return to a moratorium on ballistic missile tests, "they have no positive news whatsoever," Hill said Thursday in an exclusive interview on CNN's "The Situation Room." On Friday, Reuters reported that Japan's draft resolution proposes sanctions, while an alternative Chinese-Russian text calls on U.N. members to exercise vigilance rather than insisting they prevent the supply of materials and technologies that could contribute to North Korea's missile program. The Sino-Russian draft also strongly deplores the multiple missile launches by North Korea and urges, rather than demands, that Pyongyang institute a moratorium. "China and Russia have come closer, but it is far from sufficient," Abe told Reuters in an interview. "We will continue to insist on a binding resolution with sanctions," he said. Abe is the frontrunner to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi when he steps down in September. Hill has been in Asia consulting with his diplomatic counterparts in Japan, South Korea and Japan. He told CNN he sensed a feeling of frustration among the Chinese diplomats over their mission. The United States has been pressing China to apply more pressure on North Korea to end its missile tests and return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks. Other parties to the talks are Japan, South Korea and Russia. Asked whether China had failed in its mission, Hill said the nuclear issue was not a bilateral one, and the success of talks fell on many countries. "China has no interest in seeing North Korea fire off missiles," Hill said. "They understand that we need to send a clear and unified message to North Koreans." North walks outMeanwhile, South Korea Thursday refused to discuss providing more food aid to North Korea, prompting Pyongyang to walk out of a ministerial meeting between North and South. According to a North Korean statement handed out to the media before its delegation left, North Korea said "the South bears full responsibility for the talks ending earlier than scheduled." Throughout the two-day talks, South Korea pressed North Korea to return to the six-party talks to address Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. North Korea replied in a statement, "these are the South-North Korea talks, not the six-party talks," asserting the South was trying to discuss matters "not inter-Korean related." North Korea launched seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 missile that failed 42 seconds after liftoff, suggesting a catastrophic failure of the rocket's booster stage. All of the missiles plunged into the Sea of Japan. Despite the failire, Hill noted that the range of North Korean missiles -- short, medium and long-range -- put many countries at risk of being hit. Hill was asked whether it would be better for the United States to relent and participate in direct talks with North Korea. He said there had been many direct meetings with North Korean diplomats during the six-party talks. On Wednesday, China and Russia proposed their own resolution to the U.N. Security Council on the missile tests as a counter to a draft Japanese resolution calling for sanctions against Pyongyang for the launches. Chinese and Russian ambassadors to the United Nations said the new draft was a chance to maintain peace and security and offer a unified message from the U.N. Security Council on Pyongyang's actions. (Full story) The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, contains language that is milder than the Japanese draft resolution offered last week. Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters his government had political problems with the Japanese version, which called for sanctions against North Korea if it didn't meet certain demands. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
