Cato Daily Dispatch for December 3, 2003
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With Premier's Visit Approaching, a Chinese RevelationNorth Korea Threat to Pull Out of Talks
Russia Joins U.S. in Rejecting Kyoto Protocol
With Premier's Visit Approaching, a Chinese Revelation
"China revealed in unusual detail Wednesday its methods of preventing dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands, outlining its approach to nonproliferation just days before its premier visits Washington," The Associated Press reports.
"The 'white paper' said China had made sure an array of procedures and penalties was in place to prevent companies from transferring technology or materials that could be made into chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. It was released days before Premier Wen Jiabao travels to the United States for a meeting with President Bush and other officials from Dec. 7-13."
The Cato Handbook for Congress chapter on relations with China says: "The challenge for the United States is to exploit opportunities for further gains from trade and move closer to a constructive partnership with the PRC-but at the same time protect vital U.S. interests. Unfortunately, U.S. policy is drifting toward confrontation, as witnessed, in particular, by the USCC [U.S.-China Commission] and Pentagon reports. That strategy risks creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that China will become an enemy. Indeed, a growing chorus in Congress and the U.S. foreign policy community argues thatthe PRC is a belligerent dictatorship and an implacable future enemy of the United States."
North Korea Threat to Pull Out of Talks
"Six-nation talks on the North Korea nuclear crisis may not take place before the end of the year as hoped and may be pushed back into January or February, a US official warned," Agence France-Presse reports.
"The first indication that preparations for the talks could be in trouble came hours after top State Department official John Bolton warned Pyongyang should not seek to stall the meeting expected around December 17 or 19."
In "Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Why Military Action Should Not Be Used to Resolve the North Korean Nuclear Crisis," Cato Senior Fellow Doug Bandow writes: "Rather than adopting the most dangerous course of action as a first resort, the United States should instead take the opportunity to reduce its threat profile in the region by focusing on multilateral diplomatic efforts that place primary responsibility for resolving the crisis on those regional actors most threatened by the North Korean nuclear program."
Russia Joins U.S. in Rejecting Kyoto Protocol
"A senior Kremlin official declared Tuesday that Russia would not ratify the international treaty requiring cuts in the emissions of gases linked to global warming, delivering what could be a fatal blow to years of diplomatic efforts," The New York Times reports.
"The official, Andrei N. Illarionov, said in remarks to reporters and in a subsequent interview that President Vladimir V. Putin had told a group of European businessmen on Tuesday that the treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, ran counter to Russia's national interests."
In "The Consequences of Kyoto," Cato Senior Fellow Patrick Michaels writes: "The Kyoto agreement--if fully complied with--would likely reduce the gross domestic product of the United States by 2.3 percent per year. However, according to a climate model of the National Center for Atmospheric Research recently featured in Science, the Kyoto emission-control commitments would reduce mean planetary warming by a mere 0.19 degree Celsius over the next 50 years. If the costs of preventing additional warming were to remain constant, the Kyoto Protocol would cost a remarkable 12 percent of GDP per degree of warming prevented annually over a 50-year period.
"The Kyoto Protocol will have no discernible effect on global climate--in fact, it is doubtful that the current network of surface thermometers could distinguish a change on the order of 0.19 degree from normal year-to-year variations."
Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org