SINGAPORE, May 30 (AFP) - The United States warned today it would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea as China appealed for calm amid fears that Pyongyang was readying for a long-range missile test.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told a high-level security forum in Singapore that North Korea's actions, including its nuclear test earlier this week, could spark a regional arms race. “Our goal is complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and we will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state,” Gates said.
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| Ma Xiaotian |
“North Korea's nuclear programme and actions constitute a threat to regional peace and security. We unequivocally reaffirm our commitment to the defence of our allies in the region,” he added.
Tensions have been running high since Kim Jong-Il's regime said it staged its second atomic bomb test on Monday and renounced the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.
The communist North has warned it could launch an attack on the South, which hosts US military forces, and vowed to respond strongly to any fresh sanctions imposed by the United Nations.
North Korea fired another short-range missile on Friday and US satellite photos have revealed vehicle activity at two sites in North Korea, suggesting the regime may be preparing to launch a long-range missile, two US defence officials said.The vehicle movements resembled work done before North Korea fired a long-range rocket last month, the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
But Gates said Washington “will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia -- or on us.”
If North Korea continues “the path they are on, I think the consequences for stability in the region are significant,” he added.
“I think it poses the potential for some kind of an arms race here in this region,” he said, although he said the likelihood of Japan moving to acquire nuclear capability was “at this point remote.”
Meanwhile, a top Chinese military official appealed for calm in Singapore, which is hosting an annual meeting of defence ministers and military officials known as the Shangri-La Dialogue.
“The Korean peninsula should move towards denuclearisation and we hope that all parties concerned will remain cool-headed and take measured measures to address the problem,” said Lieutenant-General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff at the People's Liberation Army.
Ma defended China’s military buildup and called for calm over North Korea as the global community looked to Beijing for a breakthrough in efforts to stop Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
He said China will “consistently” adhere to a “military strategy of active defence.”
But he also said Beijing needed to boost its military capabilities to counter security threats and support its commitments to help ensure international peace and stability.
China's neighbours and the United States have been wary of its growing military might due to fears that Beijing might be harbouring territorial and other strategic ambitions.Ma also said China understood the concerns of Pyongyang's other immediate neighbours -- Japan and South Korea -- and that “we are resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation.” |
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