Two-sided view should be taken on nuclear issue

A new trend has emerged on the global "hot spot" nuclear issue recently. On February 23, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed El Baradei announced that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had invited him to visit, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the invitation, which came five months after the DPRK tested a nuclear device, as a very "good beginning." Ban Ki-moon noted that upcoming visit by IAEA director general will hopefully play a positive role in speeding up the implementation of a joint document signed at the end of the third phase of the fifth round of the Six-Party talks in Beijing.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the deal reached with DPRK over its nuclear program is a "promising step in the right direction". And White House spokesman cited it as an indication of the DPRK readiness to carry out the clauses reached during the Six-Party talks,

At the time when a positive relaxation and momentum occurred with respect to the DPRK nuclear issue, there has been an escalation of confrontation on the "Iranian nuclear enrichment" issue, nevertheless. The UN nuclear watchdog submitted a report to the UN Security Council on Feb. 22 claiming that Iran is continuing uranium enrichment activities instead of terminating its enrichment activities by Feb. 21 in compliance with the UN Security Council Resolution. Western nations urged the UN Security Council to take "further actions" against Iran, but the country persists unyieldingly with its state right for "peaceful use of nuclear energy."

The so-called "nuclear" issue is, in essence, a global security issue. Owing to the large-scale destructive nature of nuclear weapons, nuclear security has become a subject of common security for the humankind. Consequently, the core of the issue, or "common security", has to be kept to. So the nuclear non-nuclear proliferation system is a preventive measure the humankind has resorted to cope with the nuclear crisis, and it should be fully protected. As for the other aspect, there are de facto inequality and imbalance with regard to the "nuclear right" of different countries. If the non-nuclear nations cannot dispel or free themselves from security concern, it will be difficult to maintain the nuclear non-proliferation system.

The so-called the "Iranian nuclear issue" and "DPRK nuclear issue", represent, to a large extent, the issue of the US' ties with both Iran and DPRK. If the United States vilifies them by name and takes hostile actions against them, then Iran and DPRK will have a strong sense of crisis and also respond with antagonistic moves accordingly. The cause for some relaxation on the "DPRK nuclear issue" has something to do with a certain change in the attitude of the U.S. and, with the direct U.S.-DPRK contact, there will be more mutual understanding and greater possibilities for a mutual comprise. An abrupt transition on Korean nuclear issue in the wake of a nuclear test by DPRK and its intensified confrontations with the U.S. suggests a peaceful settlement of the issue via persevering diplomatic effort is viable.

Historical experience shows common security as the solely reliable security. To take the security concern of both Iran and DPRK into full account represents an essential precondition for the settlement of the Iranian and DPRK nuclear issues. At present, nevertheless, there is much hearsay about the outbreak of the U.S. war against Iran. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied the US intention to fight a war against Iran, whereas Vice-President Dick Cheney said his country would not rule out "possibilities of any sort" for means to deal with Iran. Such a blurring strategy of the U.S. will perhaps fill Iran with uncertainties and hence add difficulties to the solution of its nuclear issue.

As a matter of fact, the Iranian nuclear issue far outstrips that of the DPRK in term of complexity, as the nuclear issue of Iran has increasingly been entangled with the present turmoil of Iraq and geopolitics in the Middle and Near East region.

To prevent or halt the Iraqi situation from deteriorating, the US bipartisan Iraq Study Group at the end of 2006 proposed Washington launch new diplomatic strategies by contacting Iran and Syria and reaching consensuses with them on the stability of Iraq and the region. A much better atmosphere could have been available if the US government had accepted the proposal and built or connected the channels of communications for the solution of the Iranian nuclear enrichment program.

By People's Daily Online and, its author Huang Qing, a senior PD editor