FOCUS: U.S.-China deal blocks Japan's action on N. Korea's rocket launch+

PATTAYA, Thailand, April 12 Kyodo -
Japan's acceptance of a U.N. Security Council presidential statement in
response to North Korea's April 5 rocket launch instead of a UNSC resolution
stemmed largely from a policy shift by the United States, Tokyo's closest ally.

The compromise -- struck between Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao during their talks Saturday in Pattaya, Thailand -- led the
Security Council to reach a basic accord the same day on a draft presidential
statement, paving the way for official adoption as early as Monday.
Initially, the United States supported calls by Japan and South Korea for a
legally binding resolution, the strongest response from the United Nations'
most powerful body, for what is widely seen as a long-range ballistic missile
test by North Korea.
A presidential statement, though a weaker response by the Security Council,
becomes part of its official record, unlike a press statement, which China
initially called for.
But China's opposition to a resolution, Washington's priority of an early
resumption of the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea and possibly
the fact that Beijing is now the largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds prompted
the United States to broker a deal between Japan and China, analysts say.
''The U.S. priority is to halt nuclear development and proliferation to
terrorists and rogue states, as President Barack Obama said in laying out a
vision for a world without nuclear weapons in his speech in Prague in early
April,'' said Shinichi Mizuta, a foreign policy analyst at the Mitsubishi
Research Institute in Tokyo.
''The Obama administration's focus is how to resume the stalled six-party
talks,'' Mizuta said. ''I suspect the United States could not afford to
confront China -- chair of the denuclearization talks -- by sticking to
insistence on this missile issue. But that is not to say that Washington will
overlook the issue and be tolerant to North Korea.''
Mizuta also pointed out that the United States needs support from China and
Russia in addressing Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs because
Washington has used a key diplomatic card -- the removal of North Korea from
the U.S. blacklist of terrorist-sponsoring nations last October.
China and Russia -- traditional allies of North Korea and two of the five
permanent Security Council members with veto power -- have opposed invoking a
new resolution against Pyongyang because they do not believe the launch was in
violation of UNSC Resolution 1718, which bans any ballistic missile and nuclear
activity by North Korea. Japan, the United States and South Korea claim the
launch was such an activity, while North Korea says it was for a satellite.
China and Russia were also concerned that imposing tougher sanctions against
Pyongyang in a resolution would prompt the country to pull out of the six-party
process, a move that would increase tension in and around the Korean Peninsula.
The six-party talks -- suspended since December over ways to verify Pyongyang's
nuclear programs -- involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United
States.
Speaking to reporters after meeting bilaterally with Wen and as a trio with
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak on Saturday, Aso said, ''If a strong
message can be ensured and the international community can swiftly send that
message (to North Korea), we don't think we need to stick to a certain
format.''
The remark is taken as suggesting that Aso and Wen -- and Lee and Wen -- agreed
that a presidential statement condemns Pyongyang for the suspected missile
launch, demands that North Korea comply with its obligation under Resolution
1718 and calls for an early resumption of the six-party talks.
Now that the weeklong UNSC negotiations on North Korea, convened immediately
after the launch at the request of Japan, have come to an end, Japan will step
up its North Korean diplomacy in a broader context using various diplomatic
channels, while solidifying tie-ups with the United States and South Korea.
Aso is expected to take up North Korean issues, including missiles, nuclear and
the abduction of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang, when he meets Chinese leaders
April 29-30 in China and European Union leaders possibly in early May in the
Czech Republic.
Aso is also likely to discuss the issues with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin during his visit to Tokyo in May. Leaders of Britain, Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States will hold their annual
Group of Eight summit in July in Italy.
==Kyodo