US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI578

UNCLAS TAIPEI 000578 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/RSP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - 
ROBERT PALLADINO 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, KPAO, TW, Foreign Policy 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: NORTH KOREA 
 
 
"`Axis of Evil' Defying U.S. on Nuclear Proliferation" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language 
"China Post" said in an editorial (2/15): 
 
"North Korea is now the world's No. 8 nuclear power, if 
its claim is true.  This poses a direct challenge to 
U.S. President W. Bush, who has pledged to confront 
tyrannical regimes that promoted terror and pursued the 
development of weapons of mass destruction. . 
 
"By heightening the stakes, Pyongyang appears to be 
gambling that Washington and its allies will ultimately 
accept the idea of a nuclear North Korea. 
 
"So far, brinkmanship has worked well for the North 
Koreas.  Since the crisis erupted in 2002, Pyongyang 
has carefully crossed U.S. red lines, with little 
apparent consequence. . 
 
"Regional resistance to a military strike against the 
North has mounted in the past year - and to many in the 
region, the idea of a nuclear North Korea is simply not 
as shocking as it once was. . 
 
"America has little appetite for making concessions to 
North Korea.  If the talks do not resume, the Bush 
administration could face a tough struggle to get the 
issue before the U.N. Security Council, where China 
holds a veto." 
 
PAAL