Inside the Ring

Once the shutdown commences, the first shipment of 50,000 metric tons of fuel will go to North Korea as part of the February agreement reached in Beijing to denuclearize North Korea, which in October set off its first underground nuclear test, a small-yield blast.

The official said the next meeting of the six-party talks, including the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, will be held after North Korea “shuts and seals” the Yongbyon facility.

Chinese in Hawaii

A Defense Department official is upset that the U.S. Pacific Command recently hosted a meeting in Hawaii of representatives of U.S. and foreign special operations forces that included commands from China’s special operations forces.

“We shouldn’t be inviting the Chinese to these meetings,” said a special forces operator opposed to the meeting.

A former special operations officer was also upset that the Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict office is promoting Chinese participation in such meetings since the Chinese military continues to view the United States as its main enemy and is using such forums to gain information that could be used against the United States in a future conflict.

c Bill Gertz covers the Pentagon. He can be reached at 202/636-3274 or at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.