Obama snubs another peace prize winner in a bow to Hu Jintao
Monday, October 13, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
By Willy Lam, special from East-Asia-Intel.com
ChinaÕs North Korean policy suffered a setback when Premier Wen Jiabao failed to get anything substantial from Kim Jong-Il regarding the resuscitation of the so-called six-party talks being hosted by the Chinese.
However, President Barack ObamaÕs decision not to see the Nobel Prize laureate Dalai Lama during his ongoing visit to Washington has handed Beijing a big victory in its decades-long crusade of preventing Òforeign interferenceÓ in its repressive policies toward Tibet and Xinjiang.
Upon leaving Pyongyang on Tuesday with Wen, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi claimed that the premierÕs historic tour was Òrich in content and weighty in outcome.Ó
However, on the subject of his countryÕs return to the negotiation table in Beijing, ÒDear LeaderÓ Kim Jong-Il only expressed Òour readiness to hold multilateral talks, depending on the outcome of the Democratic PeopleÕs Republic of Korea-U.S. talks.Ó And while Kim reiterated PyongyangÕs theoretical commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he was but repeating the same rhetorical pledges made by his aides and diplomats during the past month or so.
Newspapers in South Korea have reported that DPRK scientists have all along proceeded with their ambitious nuclear weapons program.
WenÕs North Korean diplomacy is disappointing because prior to his visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry took the unusual step of announcing that Beijing would bolster food and fuel aid to the Stalinist regime. On top of this, Wen personally presented ChinaÕs once-and-future ally with gifts worth $20 million.
Since July, the leadership under President Hu Jintao, who takes personal charge of foreign and security policies, has also silenced domestic critics of the DPRK.
Soon after PyongyangÕs nuclear test on May 25, several renowned Chinese experts on the Koreas published articles in the official media blasting KimÕs misguided attempts to build a full-fledged nuclear arsenal. Such criticisms have disappeared from even the chat-rooms of ChinaÕs websites.
On relations with the U.S., however, Hu, who heads the Chinese Communist PartyÕs (CCP) Leading Group on Foreign Affairs, is said to be ecstatic over ObamaÕs decision not to see the Dalai Lama during the Tibetan spiritual leaderÕs five-day visit to Washington this week.
This was the first time since 1991 that a U.S. president has failed to vouchsafe the Nobel Prize laureate even a Òdrop inÓ opportunity at the White House.
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