 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Washington (AFP) Dec 5, 2010 In an apparent change of its approach to China, the administration of President Barack Obama has privately started accusing Beijing of "enabling" North Korea to start a uranium enrichment program and to launch attacks on South Korea, The Washington Post reported late Sunday. Citing an unnamed senior US official, the newspaper said that Washington is moving to redefine its relationship with South Korea and Japan, potentially creating an anti-China bloc in Northeast Asia. The report came as South Korea's military began a major live-fire exercise amid high tensions following North Korea's deadly bombardment of a border island last month. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the firing exercises by warships or land artillery units had started in 29 locations, including off one of five frontline islands near the disputed Yellow Sea border with the North. The North on November 23 killed two civilians and two marines and destroyed 29 homes in an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong island, sending regional tensions soaring. It said it was retaliating for a South Korean artillery drill which had lobbed some shells into waters it claims as its territory. In recent meetings with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing and in Washington, US officials said that China was turning a blind eye to North Korean violations of UN Security Council resolutions, international agreements and a 1953 armistice halting the Korean War that China helped to negotiate, the report noted. "The Chinese embrace of North Korea in the last eight months has served to convince North Korea that China has its back and has encouraged it to behave with impunity," the paper quoted a senior administration official as saying. "We think the Chinese have been enabling North Korea." The US exasperation with China over the Korean peninsula has been evident since June, when President Obama accused China of "willful blindness" in remaining silent over North Korea's suspected sinking of a South Korean warship in March, The Post noted. But the administration's position now that China is in effect partially to blame for the problems is new, the report said.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Obama: US-S.Korean alliance 'stronger than ever'Washington (AFP) Dec 4, 2010 The US-South Korean alliance is "stronger than ever," President Barack Obama said Saturday in the wake a deadly North Korean assault on its southern neighbor. "At a time in which there are increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula following the North's unprovoked attack on the South Korean people, today we are showing that the defense alliance and partnership of the United States and South ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
