U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry © Mandel Ngan / Reuters
New York Times: U.S. Prods China on North Korea, Saying Soft Approach Has Failed
WASHINGTON — In a striking public rebuke of China, Secretary of State John Kerry warned Beijing on Thursday that its effort to rein in North Korea had been a failure and that something had to change in its handling of the isolated country it has supported for the past six decades.
“China had a particular approach that it wanted to make, and we agreed and respected to give them space to be able to implement that,” Mr. Kerry said a day after North Korea’s latest nuclear test, after a phone call with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. “Today in my conversation with the Chinese I made it clear: That has not worked, and we cannot continue business as usual.”
Two administration officials said the United States was now drafting a proposed resolution for United Nations Security Council approval that would impose sanctions on North Korean trade and finance, including a partial ban on permitting North Korean ships to enter ports around the world, an effort to cut off more of the country’s trade.
Update: Kerry blames China for 'failed' soft approach to N. Korea (RT).
WNU Editor: John Kerry is right .... but he is saying it publicly and making the Chinese lose face. This is not the course of action that I would have approved of .... but realistically .... everyone is in a lose-lose position when it comes to North Korea. The best that anyone can do (short of war) .... is to contain the situation and to hope that North Korea does not start peddling their WMDs to unsavoury regimes.
Update #2: China answers back .... China, in Rebuke, Suggests U.S. Worsened Ties With North Korea (NYT)
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