The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Beijing. She was yesterday in Seoul, a city prelude to its “Asian tour” largely devoted to the question of dismantling the nuclear weapons program of North Korea. At the end of his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Condie Rice called on China to persuade North – Korean progress in the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program.
China, which is the principal ally of Pyongyang, hosts since 2003 talks aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal. Pyongyang had promised to turn off its main nuclear facilities before the end of 2007 and to provide full details of its programs in exchange for energy aid. But there has been some problems during the recent weeks. The United States accused the North Korean government to pursue a secret program to enrich its uranium. Meanwhile, the communist regime complains that he hasn’t received the aid promised by the United-States.
The call of Ms. Rice to China is an echo to the impatience shown last month by a special envoy of George W. Bush accusing Beijing of not “doing enough” to break the deadlock. This morning, the head of the Chinese diplomacy responded that “close discussions with North Korea” were continuing. Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Foreign Minister expressed that the process “was taking longer than expected.”
The music softens morals.
While the US secretary of state was in China talking about its concerns of Korea, an historic concert was held in the Grand Theatre in Pyongyang played by the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York. He arrived on monday in one of the most closed countries in the world, the orchestra, in front of 1,500 guests, opened the evening by playing the National anthems of North Korea and the United States. The concert ended with an arrangement of “Arirang”, a very popular Korean song. The public was conquered and gave a standing ovation.
As a fan of classical music, Condoleezza Rice was unable to attend this concert, requires political agenda. Her visit to Asia ends on wednesday where she’s expected in Japan, its final stage.
