Editorial Roundup

Excerpts of editorials from newspapers around the world:

Straits Times

Shared caution on Taiwan

SINGAPORE — On the face of it, the joint United States-Japan security statement’s reference to Taiwan seems innocuous: The ‘peaceful resolution of issues concerning the Taiwan Strait,’ it said, is among the two countries’ common strategic objectives. The statement’s context, however, is fraught with significance. Japan had refrained from making any reference to Taiwan in previous bilateral statements. Mentioning Taiwan now makes more explicit what was only implicit, or even ambiguous, before: In the case of a conflict between Taiwan and China, and in the event of a U.S. intervention in that conflict, Japan will provide assistance to the United States.

Washington and Tokyo must take great care not to encourage pro-independence sentiments on the island. Recent statements by President Bush that he will not countenance any unilateral change of the status quo by either Taipei or Beijing, and that Taiwan should not assume automatic U.S. support under any circumstance, had served to dampen the adventurism of Taiwan’s pro-independence forces. … A peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue would be in everyone’s interest, but it is obvious what is one of its preconditions: Taiwan cannot declare itself independent.

Yomiuri Shimbun

North Korea nuclear threat

TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has said his country could return to six-party talks on its nuclear program provided conditions are right.

North Korea’s nuclear development program not only threatens global efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, it poses a threat to peace and security in Northeast Asia. This perception is shared by both Japan and the United States. Through closer cooperation with China, South Korea and Russia, Japan and the United States should continue to urge North Korea to abolish its nuclear weapons program.

North Korea restarted its nuclear facilities by ending a moratorium on the operations in violation of a framework agreement signed with the United States in 1994. If it starts to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from its reactors, North Korea would be able to produce enough plutonium to make one nuclear weapon a year.

The international community must act resolutely against North Korea if it tries to step up its nuclear weapons development program and refuses to rejoin the six-way talks.

Berlingske Tidende

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