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AUSTRALIA - United States Vice-President Dick Cheney says he is concerned about China's military build-up and also whether North Korea will follow through on its commitments in a nuclear deal.
On a visit to Australia, Cheney - one of Washington's firmest allies over the Iraq war - also emphasised the importance of coalition forces remaining in Iraq until it had stabilised.
"The notion that free countries can turn our backs on what happens in places like Afghanistan or Iraq or any other possible safe haven for terrorists is an option that we simply cannot indulge," Cheney said yesterday.
"If our coalition withdrew before Iraqis could defend themselves, radical factions would battle for dominance of the country," he said.
Cheney arrived in Australia after talks in Tokyo with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in which China's military rise and its growing clout in the region were high on the agenda. He praised China's role in six-party talks that led to a February 13 nuclear agreement under which North Korea agreed to disable its main plutonium-producing nuclear plant in return for fuel oil. But he said that other actions by the Chinese sent a different message and that "last month's anti-satellite tests, China's continued fast-paced military build-up, are less constructive and are not consistent with China's stated goal of a 'peaceful rise'." Cheney also raised concerns about the agreement itself.
"We go into this deal with our eyes open. In light of North Korea's missile test last July, its nuclear test in October and its record of proliferation and human rights abuses, the regime in Pyongyang has much to prove, yet this agreement represents the first hopeful step towards a better future for the North Korean people," he said.
Since the deal, some US analysts have said Cheney, known for his hawkish views, was sceptical and yesterday's speech was his first open acknowledgment of concern that North Korea might not follow through.
Police imposed heavy security for the visit, with anti-Iraq war protesters scuffling with police before his arrival on Thursday night and again yesterday.
Roadblocks cut off the hotel in which Cheney spoke to the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue yesterday.
About 50 people staged a loud protest, chanting "Chain Up Cheney" and calling for an end to the Iraq war and the release of Australian David Hicks from Guantanamo Bay.
- REUTERS
