China's Wen under pressure in Seoul over N.Korea
Posted: 28 May 2010 1800 hrs
SEOUL - China will not protect those who sank a South Korean warship, Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as saying Friday, as he came under pressure in Seoul to join an international push to punish North Korea.
Japan slapped new sanctions on the North over the March 26 sinking, which international investigators say was caused by a North Korean torpedo.
Regional tensions have risen sharply since they announced the findings of their investigation last week, with South Korea announcing reprisals that have sparked threats of war from the North.
Wen made the comments at a meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, according to Lee's spokesman.
"The Chinese government will review the results of international probes closely and consider reactions from countries concerned seriously," Wen was quoted as saying.
"It will then take its position on this issue in an objective and fair manner. According to the investigation results, China will not protect anyone."
China "rejects any acts that harm peace and stability" on the peninsula, Wen reportedly said. "We hope the South Korean government handles this issue appropriately and we will closely consult with it."
South Korea, China and Japan are seeking China's support to sanction -- or at least, to censure -- North Korea in the United Nations Security Council.
China is the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline and a veto-wielding council member.
Unlike many countries, it has not publicly blamed Pyongyang for the sinking, one of the worst military attacks on the South since the 1950-53 war.
South Korea "is now making all-out diplomatic efforts to hold the North accountable", a presidential spokesman said before Friday's meeting.
Seoul will press its case again at a trilateral summit this weekend on the southern island of Jeju also involving Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
In a phone conversation, Hatoyama and US President Barack Obama agreed to work together on the issue.
"The prime minister and President Obama agreed that North Korea's conduct is unforgivable and that Japan and the United States will cooperate on the issue," said Japan's chief government spokesman Hirofumi Hirano.
The Japanese government announced further restrictions on remittances to the hardline communist state. Its parliament also passed a law authorising its coastguard to inspect ships suspected of carrying North Korean nuclear and weapons-related cargo on the high seas.
South Korea's reprisals include a trade cut-off and the resumption of cross-border propaganda broadcasts.
The North, which denies involvement, has threatened to shell the loudspeakers now being installed along the tense frontier if the broadcasts go ahead.
The North has cut all ties with the South, scrapped pacts aimed at averting accidental flare-ups along their disputed sea border, and vowed to attack any intruding ships.
It has threatened to shut down a jointly-run industrial park at Kaesong, the last reconciliation project still operating.
The South's top military commanders will meet Saturday to discuss countermeasures against cross-border aggression including any moves to take South Korean civilians hostage at Kaesong, the defence ministry said.
Some 42,000 North Koreans and about 800-1,000 South Korean managers work in 110 South Korean factories at the estate just north of the border.
Seoul's unification ministry said the number of South Koreans at Kaesong is being cut by 50-60 percent.
Investigators said parts of a torpedo salvaged from the seabed exactly match a model that the North had offered for export.
Pyongyang poured scorn on the probe's findings in a 1,700-word article on the official news agency by an unidentified military commentator.
"As the facts show, the 'crucial pieces of evidence' produced by the south Korean regime, a master of fabrication and concoction, are nothing but faked things from A to Z, inviting serious doubts," it said.
Among other matters, the commentary questioned how part of the torpedo could have remained on the seabed for 50 days when even the hull and stern of the shattered ship were shifted by strong currents.
South Korea has asked China to send experts to check the findings of the investigation but Beijing has not yet responded, a senior Seoul official was earlier quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
Russia, also a veto-wielding Security Council member, has announced it is sending experts to assess the evidence.
- AFP/ir
