In an annual report, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) concludes that North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a security issue, and means that the risk of a confrontation between the U.S. and mainland China over Taiwan has also increased. Six-nation talks about North Korea's self-professed nuclear program have made "almost no progress" since they began in 2003, the IISS's 384-page Strategic Survey 2004/5 report, released Tuesday, indicated.
"North Korea's efforts to build nuclear weapons remain the most daunting security issue facing the region," the report pointed out.
Pyongyang, which is isolated internationally and feels its security is threatened by the big powers, has been confirmed to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program. The development has worried its neighbors, especially Japan.
The Communist country launched a medium-range missile over Japan in 1998. The following year, the United States agreed to ease trade sanctions, imposed on North Korea in 1988 for its alleged terrorist activity, in exchange for the North's agreement to suspend its missile testing. But North Korea has not abandoned moves toward the making of nuclear bombs. On Tuesday, it refused to rule out a pre-emptive attack, even amid signs it may be willing to return to the nuclear bargaining table, an Associated Press report said.
The North claimed that Washington's "hostile policies" led it to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent and warning against any attack to dislodge its leadership, the AP report stated.
While the threat from North Korea has stayed generally stable, "the risks of a U.S.-China confrontation over Taiwan appeared to increase incrementally," the IISS said.
Tensions mounted in March, when mainland China's parliament passed an anti-secession law authorizing its military to use "non-peaceful" means to halt any moves by Taiwan to formally declare statehood. Beijing's enactment of the law was a reaction to the independence movement that has been gaining momentum since President Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000.
No one can tell whether a military clash will finally occur in the Taiwan Strait. But if the independence advocates continue to push for the realization of their goal, the possibility of that scenario will continue to grow bigger.
