Washington – One day after passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution punishing North Korea for its apparent test of a nuclear weapon, senior U.S. diplomats said Sunday that China must help enforce it and use economic leverage to compel Pyong yang to return to disarmament talks.
The resolution, passed unanimously, calls on states to prevent North Korea from selling or buying certain banned weapons and technology. But China said Saturday that Beijing would not inspect cargo entering or leaving North Korea, for fear of raising tensions in the region.
China’s unwillingness to act against its longtime ally raises the stakes for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s diplomatic mission to Asia this week. Ever since the current nuclear crisis with North Korea began in 2002, the Bush administration has relied heavily on China to use its influence with North Korea’s leaders. But Beijing’s caution has frequently disappointed U.S. officials.
U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said on ABC’s “This Week” that China had a “heavy responsibility” now that Pyong yang has detonated a nuclear device. “This test by the North Koreans had to have been humiliating to China,” he added.
Rice, who along with Bolton made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “You’re going to find China carrying out its responsibilities, undoubtedly carrying it out in a way that it believes will not enhance conflict. None of us want to enhance conflict with these measures. We just want to keep North Korea from trading in dangerous materials.”
U.S. officials said Sunday that they were pleased with the terms of Resolution 1718, which bans North Korean trade in materials linked to its weapons of mass destruction program, ballistic missiles, high-end conventional weapons – including warplanes and battle tanks – and luxury goods. It will create a U.N. committee to monitor the sanctions’ effectiveness and to draw up a list of individuals and institutions linked to North Korea’s weapons programs. They will be prohibited from traveling abroad, and most of their financial assets will be frozen.
China, which shares an 880- mile border with North Korea, has generally argued that pressure on its neighbor would be counterproductive. It frequently lured North Korea back to six-nation negotiations on Pyong yang’s nuclear programs with tens of millions of dollars in payments – in one case, China even provided North Korea with a glass factory.
In April 2005, when North Korea was boycotting an earlier round of the talks, China rejected a U.S. suggestion of a “technical” interruption in the supply of oil to North Korea, which imports all the oil it consumes.
