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South Korea: China says it won't defend attacker
China told South Korea on Friday that it will not defend whoever it determines was responsible for the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors, the South Korean government said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the comments after meeting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak amid tensions on the Korean peninsula following the March 26 torpedo attack near the disputed North-South sea border.
South Korea, the United States and Japan have condemned North Korea after a multinational investigation blamed Pyongyang for the attack. China, however, took a cautious position.
China will decide its stance after considering international probes and the reactions of all countries, Wen told Lee, according to a briefing by presidential adviser Lee Dong-kwan. "China will defend no one" whatever the outcome, Wen said, according to Lee.
China's backing would be key to any bid to condemn or sanction North Korea. Beijing, a veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council member, so far has refrained from committing to council action against Pyongyang, its neighbor and traditional ally.
Wen's comments could not be independently confirmed. China's official Xinhua News Agency made no mention of a pledge not to defend those responsible in its report on the meeting.
However, Xinhua did quote Wen as saying China would make a judgment on the cause of the incident in an "objective and fair manner" and "take its stance on the basis of facts concerning the sinking of a South Korean warship."
China "always opposes and condemns any acts detrimental to peace and stability on the peninsula," it quoted him as saying, adding that Beijing "takes serious note of the results of a joint investigation by South Korea and other countries, as well as the reactions of all parties."
Wen's remarks appear to show China is sensitive to South Korean anger over the incident and rising criticism of Beijing's reluctance to endorse the investigation results or criticize Pyongyang.
Chinese leaders were pressed hard on the issue during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials in Beijing earlier this week, and Seoul has already expressed its displeasure over Beijing's hosting the North's reclusive leader Kim Jong Il on a visit just weeks after the sinking.
Wen's pledge as reported by South Korea not to defend the perpetrators may also be a sign that Beijing won't exercise its veto at the Security Council. That would likely be conditional on any measures taken against the North being symbolic and unlikely to further destabilize the regime.
Wen and Lee met at the Blue House a day before a three-way summit that will also include Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
'Diplomatic efforts'
Lee's spokesman Park Sun-kyu said in a statement that South Korea was "fully concentrating on diplomatic efforts to hold North Korea responsible." He said the matter would be discussed Friday, at the weekend summit and at a security meeting in Singapore in early June.
Also, President Lee would lay out the case against North Korea during talks with Wen, a South Korean government official said earlier, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.
A multinational investigation concluded last week that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that tore apart and sank the Cheonan in the worst attack on the South Korean military since the Korean War.
North Korea has denied responsibility for the attack, and has warned that retaliation or punishment would mean war.
Tensions have soared since Lee laid out a series of punitive measures and pledged to haul Pyongyang before the U.N. Security Council. The steps include slashing trade with Pyongyang, resuming anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts across the border and launching large-scale naval exercises off the western coast. U.S.-South Korean military drills are to follow in the coming months.
North Korea has carried out a series of attacks on the South since the Korean War ended in a truce in 1953. South Korea has never retaliated militarily.
Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday that China had indicated it was prepared to hold the North accountable for the torpedo attack and could join in some kind of formal Security Council rebuke.
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov said that Moscow wants to know with full certitude who is responsible before making further decisions. He said a group of Russian experts was heading to Seoul to study the relevant information.
"We are studying the conclusions of the panel that investigated the incident," he told The Associated Press. "We also have sent a group of experts to study the situation on the spot."
S. Korea: China says it won't defend attacker - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com
China told South Korea on Friday that it will not defend whoever it determines was responsible for the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors, the South Korean government said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the comments after meeting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak amid tensions on the Korean peninsula following the March 26 torpedo attack near the disputed North-South sea border.
South Korea, the United States and Japan have condemned North Korea after a multinational investigation blamed Pyongyang for the attack. China, however, took a cautious position.
China will decide its stance after considering international probes and the reactions of all countries, Wen told Lee, according to a briefing by presidential adviser Lee Dong-kwan. "China will defend no one" whatever the outcome, Wen said, according to Lee.
China's backing would be key to any bid to condemn or sanction North Korea. Beijing, a veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council member, so far has refrained from committing to council action against Pyongyang, its neighbor and traditional ally.
Wen's comments could not be independently confirmed. China's official Xinhua News Agency made no mention of a pledge not to defend those responsible in its report on the meeting.
However, Xinhua did quote Wen as saying China would make a judgment on the cause of the incident in an "objective and fair manner" and "take its stance on the basis of facts concerning the sinking of a South Korean warship."
China "always opposes and condemns any acts detrimental to peace and stability on the peninsula," it quoted him as saying, adding that Beijing "takes serious note of the results of a joint investigation by South Korea and other countries, as well as the reactions of all parties."
Wen's remarks appear to show China is sensitive to South Korean anger over the incident and rising criticism of Beijing's reluctance to endorse the investigation results or criticize Pyongyang.
Chinese leaders were pressed hard on the issue during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials in Beijing earlier this week, and Seoul has already expressed its displeasure over Beijing's hosting the North's reclusive leader Kim Jong Il on a visit just weeks after the sinking.
Wen's pledge as reported by South Korea not to defend the perpetrators may also be a sign that Beijing won't exercise its veto at the Security Council. That would likely be conditional on any measures taken against the North being symbolic and unlikely to further destabilize the regime.
Wen and Lee met at the Blue House a day before a three-way summit that will also include Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
'Diplomatic efforts'
Lee's spokesman Park Sun-kyu said in a statement that South Korea was "fully concentrating on diplomatic efforts to hold North Korea responsible." He said the matter would be discussed Friday, at the weekend summit and at a security meeting in Singapore in early June.
Also, President Lee would lay out the case against North Korea during talks with Wen, a South Korean government official said earlier, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.
A multinational investigation concluded last week that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that tore apart and sank the Cheonan in the worst attack on the South Korean military since the Korean War.
North Korea has denied responsibility for the attack, and has warned that retaliation or punishment would mean war.
Tensions have soared since Lee laid out a series of punitive measures and pledged to haul Pyongyang before the U.N. Security Council. The steps include slashing trade with Pyongyang, resuming anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts across the border and launching large-scale naval exercises off the western coast. U.S.-South Korean military drills are to follow in the coming months.
North Korea has carried out a series of attacks on the South since the Korean War ended in a truce in 1953. South Korea has never retaliated militarily.
Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday that China had indicated it was prepared to hold the North accountable for the torpedo attack and could join in some kind of formal Security Council rebuke.
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov said that Moscow wants to know with full certitude who is responsible before making further decisions. He said a group of Russian experts was heading to Seoul to study the relevant information.
"We are studying the conclusions of the panel that investigated the incident," he told The Associated Press. "We also have sent a group of experts to study the situation on the spot."
S. Korea: China says it won't defend attacker - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com
) means an escalated war.
