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Bush discusses China’s role, seems to hand over authority on matter to Rice
An unofficial meeting presided over by U.S. President George W. Bush two months ago reportedly played a critical role in restarting the stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. The six-nation format, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan, was held in Beijing last week. Multiple diplomatic sources confirmed that after holding a meeting with foreign affairs experts on October 25, the U.S. gave the green light for China’s suggested three-way closed-door session attended by Washington, Beijing, and Pyongyang in November, which in turn led to the resumption of the six-party talks early this month. Just after the October meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters that Washington had a "comprehensive policy" designed to induce the North to make constructive choices regarding its nuclear weapons program. The meeting, which was held after Secretary Rice’s return from her trip to South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia, was said to be attended by Vice President Dick Cheney, cheifs of staff Joshua Bolten and Karl Rove, Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as well as Secretary Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Another source said that James Kelly, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was invited but declined the offer. The session lasted about an hour, sources said.During the meeting, President Bush reportedly questioned whether China could change its attitude toward the North to place more pressure on Pyongyang. In response to President Bush’s queries about China’s changing role, experts at the meeting told him that there is no doubt that China is feeling uncomfortable with the North and is moving toward a hard-line stance in dealing with the communist country. Peter Ennis, U.S. Bureau Chief for the news weekly Toyo Keizai, also participated in the meeting. Ennis said in an article published in the Oriental Economist Report after the meeting that some experts at the meeting mentioned the possibility of a military coup staged by China in the North after President Hu Jintao consolidates his power base on the mainland. After the meeting, President Bush seemed to have decided to give his support to China’s role in the proceedings, and to hand over full authority on the matter to Secretary of State Rice, the sources said. On October 25, Secretary Rice said that the U.S.’s main objective in diplomacy is to create an environment where the North is under pressure to make better decisions, thus holding it responsible for what it does. Two days later, the U.S. accepted the Chinese proposal for the three-way talks. Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
