U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
June 20, 2008

12:37 p.m. EDT

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: Well, apparently, the Israeli warning shots to Iran will help increase the pressure on the European Union and others, Russia, China, to increase sanctions. Are you hoping that this story might do that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I'm not sure --

QUESTION: Not the story, but the idea of Israeli air strikes.

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, I don't -- there is no organized U.S. Government effort to kind of get this story out. That is certainly -- you know, I can't speak to the anonymous sources quoted by The New York Times in their assessments. I mean, they certainly don't speak on behalf of the United States Government.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: Can I move to North Korea?

MR. MCCORMACK: Sure.

QUESTION: Previewing next week, we tried to get Tom to define "soon" for the declaration.

MR. MCCORMACK: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Wondering if you have any greater clarity. Do you expect to get the declaration next week?

MR. MCCORMACK: Next week?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. MCCORMACK: We'll see. Again, you know, it's difficult to predict timing with the North Koreans. We're -- we do hope that the North Koreans will hand over to the Chinese, who are chairs of the six-party process, a declaration. We hope that that will occur soon.

Yeah. Anything else on --

QUESTION: Do you have anything -- do you have a draft?

MR. MCCORMACK: We've talked to them about it. That was what Sung Kim's and Chris Hill's discussions were, in large part, about with them, what the declaration would look like. And of course, we have the documents that are being analyzed now, the 19,000 documents. So I think we have a good sense of what might be in a North Korean declaration once they hand it over, but again, it's not done until it is handed over to the Chinese.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: All right. What reason do you have to believe -- the Secretary was pretty strong on this the other day, saying that you're not -- you don't just hope that it's going to be delivered soon, but that it will be delivered soon. What -- why do you --

MR. MCCORMACK: Well --

QUESTION: What reason do you have to believe that that is the case?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, we've discussed this with them. We've discussed with them that --

QUESTION: But to your knowledge, have the North Koreans said to the -- or given some hint to the Chinese or to you that -- or to Sung Kim or to who -- you know, whoever that --

MR. MCCORMACK: We have indications that it will be soon. But again --

QUESTION: From the North Koreans or from the Chinese?

MR. MCCORMACK: From the North Koreans --

QUESTION: So --

MR. MCCORMACK: -- as well as the Chinese. But we -- I'll give you one other hint here, is we do not yet have another head of delegation --

QUESTION: Right.

MR. MCCORMACK: -- meeting scheduled. And presumably, that would be the venue in which the North Koreans would hand over to the Chinese a declaration.

QUESTION: But the indications that you have are that it possibly could be in the next couple days?

MR. MCCORMACK: I would say soon.

QUESTION: Next week, end of the month, by the end of the month?

MR. MCCORMACK: Soon, soon, yeah.

Okay, anything else on North Korea?

QUESTION: Well, that's what you said about BDA too, right?

MR. MCCORMACK: (Laughter.) That's one of the reasons why I never get pinned down on dates.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

(The briefing was concluded at 1:15 p.m.)