Joseph Nye: Just talking is no indication of seriousness in DPRK issue

“Just talking is not an indication of seriousness,” Professor Joseph Nye, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, told CGTN’s Dialogue in reference to the Korean Peninsula tensions.

Nye said an indication of real seriousness from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) would be to stop testing nuclear explosions and intercontinental missiles.

Talking is not enough as there had been talks in the past, he said. Actions are more important.

He said the US and China should work together closely to try to solve the crisis. “The US should reassure China that we are not trying to have advantage in which American troops going to North Korea (DPRK) or approach the Yalu River as in 1950,” he said.

“And we should say to China that if China can get North Korea (DPRK) to stop both nuclear and missiles testing, we would look forward to talks.”

Nye said this would require China to take a very strong position on the issue.

In Nye’s view, the US should learn from some past mistakes, especially on the management of great power relations.

“Two biggest mistakes the United States made after 1945 were the Vietnam War and invasion of Iraq,” he said, “and I think what we should learn from that is you cannot rule the less developed country which is going through internal social change, you have to left them work out these problems and solve these by themselves whether you like or you don’t like it.”

He was hopeful that China and the US would get a “cautiously optimistic” relationship in the future.

“If you treat China as an enemy, you will get an enemy, but if you treat China as a friend, it may become a friendly relationship,” Nye added.

(CGTN)