China leans toward South Korea's view of Cheonan warship sinking
| Seoul, South Korea
China showed signs Friday of edging toward South Korea鈥檚 view of the March sinking of the South Korean navy vessel, the Cheonan. At least, 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 second highest leader indicated China would not side with North Korea鈥檚 denial of having anything to do with it.
颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 Premier Wen Jiabao left that impression after a two-hour meeting here with South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak. The Cheonan episode, in which 46 sailors died, was the central topic.
Mr. Wen, as quoted by a spokesman for Mr. Lee, assured him that China "opposes and censures any kind of act destroying peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."
In what many viewed as a careful exercise in diplomacy, as reported by Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, Wen said China would 鈥渄etermine its position in an objective and fair way鈥� 鈥� with due regard for 鈥渢he international investigation鈥� that concluded last week that a North Korean midget submarine had fired the torpedo that sank the Cheonan on March 26.
While not the condemnation that South Korea was hoping for from China, analysts say, it showed 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 lack of enthusiasm for North Korea鈥檚 threatening rhetoric as well as its denials of sinking the 1,200-ton naval vessel in disputed waters in the West or Yellow Sea.
鈥淭he Chinese are not the big mates of North Korea that everyone thinks they are,鈥� says Michael Breen, author of two books on Korean issues, but 鈥渋f they do anything, it will be low key.鈥�
Mr. Breen sees China as going part way to meeting South Korean hopes for support. Although China might not back condemnation or sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, he says, 鈥渢hey might just not block sanctions either.鈥� Rather than exercising the power of veto, he believes, China might simply abstain.
Lee briefed Wen in minute detail on the results of the investigation that included experts from 10 Korean agencies as well as the United States, Australia, Britain, and Sweden, according to the spokesman for the Blue House. The two leaders reviewed documents and other material to substantiate the conclusion of 鈥渙verwhelming鈥� evidence.
Lee, a one-time top executive in the Hyundai empire, apparently did not mince words as he sought to bring China around to the South Korean view, telling Wen bluntly that 鈥淐hina needs to play an active role in making North Korea admit its wrongdoing.鈥�
Although Wen avoided a commitment, he promised that 鈥淐hina would not patronize anyone鈥� who might have been responsible for the incident, said the Blue House spokesman.
China spoke to Kim Jong-il about the attack
Analysts here say that China is well aware of North Korea鈥檚 role 鈥� and that 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 President Hu Jintao communicated his concerns to North Korea鈥檚 leader Kim Jong-il before receiving Mr. Kim in Beijing earlier this month.
颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 President Hu Jintao spoke on the telephone with Kim Jong-il telling him he knew that Mr. Kim had ordered the sinking of the ship, according to Ha Tae Keung, president of Open Radio for North Korea. 鈥淗e warned Kim Jong-il not to violate the stability of the Korean peninsula.鈥�
Mr. Ha, whose short-wave station beams two hours a day of news and commentary into North Korea, says he got that information, and much more, from sources inside North Korea. His station runs a website that regularly carries reports passed on by clandestine cell phone calls from contacts inside North Korea or by messages from people crossing the Yalu or Tumen River border into China.
China has been loathe to join nations around the world in criticizing North Korea for the incident. Its ties to Pyongyang go back to the Korean War, in which Chinese troops drove US and South Korean forces from the Yalu River and rescued the North Korean regime. China, pumping food and military materiel into the North, has been keeping the ruined North Korean economy on life support ever since the failure of communism in the former Soviet Union ended Soviet and East bloc aid in the early 1990s.
More meetings this weekend
鈥淐hina's unwillingness has been a key stumbling block for South Korea's plan to bring the case to the UN Security Council for sanctions,鈥� according to an analysis by Yonhap. 鈥淪upport from Beijing is crucial as the nation is one of five Council members that could block any Council move.鈥�
The fact that Premier Wen is spending so much time here, however, suggests his desire to placate South Korean sensitivities.
He and President Lee are talking again on Saturday along with Japan鈥檚 Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in an extraordinary three-way summit on the resort island of Jeju, off South Korea鈥檚 southern coast. Mr. Hatoyama has already added his voice to the chorus of condemnation of North Korea, and Japan on Friday strengthened its own sanctions on dealings with the North.
鈥淭ensions go up and down,鈥� says Mr. Breen, visiting Jeju. 鈥淐hina will play a let鈥檚-calm-down role.鈥�
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