Policy Watch: Japan, China and N.Korea

Abstract

"U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week secured a pledge from Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso that Japan ""is absolutely not considering"" acquiring nuclear weapons in response to the recent North Korean nuclear test. Rice then reiterated the American commitment to defend Japan. These moves were intended to ease some of the tensions that have emerged as a result of the North Korean nuclear crisis. It is not clear, though, that they will have this effect. They certainly will not help resolve the crisis. Here's why: There is a general consensus that China has more influence over North Korea than any other country, and that Beijing thus has a greater possibility than anyone else (including Washington) to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Just how much influence China actually has with North Korea, of course, is an open question -- even in Beijing."