US, China spar over North Korea, South China Sea

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that he agreed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about the need to reach a consensus on a “strong” resolution against North Korea from the United Nations Security Council.

Both Mr. Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after more than four hours of meetings they would work together at the United Nations on a resolution, but appeared divided over how much to press Pyongyang.

She said denuclearisation had run into difficulties because of “some parties’ failure” to work in the same direction and urged the United States to work with China “instead of pointing fingers and making inappropriate remarks”. Wang likely remained hesitant to take such drastic measures, fearing the possibility of North Korea’s destabilization. Kerry is now on a two-day visit to Beijing.

During his visit to Laos, Kerry – only the second USA secretary of State to visit the country since 1955 – promised to boost U.S.-funded programs to ameliorate malnutrition and remove unexploded ordnance left from the Vietnam war.

Since then, diplomats said Washington and Beijing have been primarily negotiating on a draft resolution, but when asked on Saturday if they were nearing agreement, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said no.

“Our position will not be swayed by specific events or the temporary mood of the moment”, Mr Wang said. China could do more as “North Korea’s lifeline, North Korea’s patron” to influence the regime, a senior State Department official told reporters Sunday before Kerry’s trip. Washington’s actions, such as flying a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber close to the inter-Korean border, were heightening the North’s “sense of insecurity and thus pushing it towards reckless nuclear brinkmanship”, it added.

The so-called six-party talks between the North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan have been stalled since they were last held in December 2008.

China is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, with dialogue playing an integral role in any dispute, and solutions achieved through peaceful negotiation, he added.

The issue of Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons overshadowed other topics, including USA opposition to China’s land reclamation activities in the South China Sea.

Wang said China agreed on the need for a new resolution, but suggested that Beijing would not support new sanctions.

Kerry and Wang also discussed China’s island-building and construction of military installations in the South China Sea. Now that China has more or less promised to sit on its hands, Pyongyang will push ahead full steam in developing a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

“I stressed the importance of finding common ground among the claimants and avoiding the destabilizing cycle of mistrust or escalation”, Kerry said. US officials vowed to continue maneuvers to protect freedom of navigation and overflight.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

“We want to send a message to the region and whoever the next president is that we should be engaging Southeast Asia at this level”, said a senior administration official.