Briefly

NORTH KOREA

Missile launch draws criticism

SEOUL — North Korea fired at least one and maybe two short-range missiles off its west coast yesterday, said U.S. and South Korean officials, prompting quick U.S. criticism of Pyongyang over the second such launch in as many weeks.

The launch occurred a day after President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed at a bilateral meeting there were limits to their patience with Pyongyang’s failure to honor a nuclear disarmament agreement.

A South Korean Defense Ministry official confirmed reclusive communist North Korea had fired at least one missile but could not specify the exact number or type.

White House National Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said North Korea’s missile test activity was “not constructive” and Pyongyang should focus on dismantling its nuclear program.

CHINA

3 fired over Tiananmen ad

BEIJING — Three top editors of a Chinese newspaper have been sacked over the publication of an ad saluting the mothers of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, a source close to the matter said yesterday.

The chief editor and two vice editors of the Chengdu Evening News were fired after the paper ran the small classified ad on Monday, the 18th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen crackdown, said the source, who requested anonymity.

The Tiananmen massacre remains one of the taboo subjects in China, where the official line is that authorities put down the “political disturbance” to safeguard economic and social stability.

CHINA

U.N. troops nixed for use in Sudan

BEIJING — China hit back at critics of its policy on Sudan yesterday, saying forcing U.N. troops on Khartoum would complicate efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis and calling attempts to link its policies there with the Olympics “ridiculous.”

Should Sudan delay approval of the force, the United States and Britain want to push for sanctions, something China — a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council — has opposed.

China is a major investor in Sudan’s oil industry and sells weapons to its government. This has prompted calls for it to pressure Khartoum over Darfur, where the United Nations estimates about 220,000 have died and 2 million been displaced in fighting between government-linked militias and rebel groups.

TAIWAN

China-U.S. showdown predicted by Lee

TOKYO — China and the United States are poised for a long-term and potentially “savage” showdown for power and influence in East Asia, Taiwan’s former president, Lee Teng-hui, predicted yesterday.

Mr. Lee, who infuriated China while in office, called on the United States to seek a stronger role in the region after President Bush leaves office.

“It is necessary for the new U.S. president who will take office in 2009 to save the United States from the political failure of President Bush and regain power in the region,” Mr. Lee said in a speech to supporters in Tokyo.

From wire dispatches and staff reports