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

The White House

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 17, 2008

Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto and Dennis Wilder, NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

9:33 A.M. EDT

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Q: Do you think that North Korea has any intention of honoring its promise to make a complete and correct declaration?

MR. WILDER: I think the North Koreans signed the agreement last year in good faith. And I think that we have every indication that the North will comply with its obligations.

We, as the Secretary, I think, said just a few minutes ago, though, are going to have a verification mechanism. We are not going to just simply accept the North Korean declaration without ways in which to make sure that the North Koreans live up to their obligations. And that is part of the process we're going through as we complete the Phase Two part of this effort.

So we will trust but verify, and that will --

Q: How will you do that?

MR. WILDER: I think I will leave it to a later date to explain that. We are working with the Chinese on this, we are working with the other six-party members on this, and we're not prepared yet to talk about the details.

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Q: One question just on the Gordon Brown visit.

Q: Could I ask a question on --

Q: But it's about Burma and Tibet, which is in his portfolio. (Laughter.)

MR. WILDER: Okay.

Q: But I just wanted to ask, because -- do you think that the British -- Gordon Brown is very, very interested in both those subjects; you know, shares that passion with the President. Do you think that there's any opportunity for collaboration in pushing the process forward on both those issues in terms of getting the Chinese to be more cooperative on those two issues; what kind of discussions are being held to that end?

MR. WILDER: Absolutely. First of all, Prime Minister Brown has taken a very strong stance on human rights issues related to China and East Asia. He made an excellent speech on Burma not too long ago. We would hope that the British will continue to speak out on the Burmese situation, and I think they will -- I know they will. They are as concerned as we are about the process leading to the referendum -- the fact that groups in Burma are not allowed to express their position on the referendum freely; the fact that the referendum is a flawed referendum at this point that bars certain people from even engaging and holding public office because they were married to foreigners, or are married to foreigners; the fact that the referendum and the constitution talk about 25 percent of the seats in the legislature being reserved for the military. You know, all of these things need a free and fair airing, and that's not happening right now in Burma.

What needs to also happen is that the Burmese need to invite in international monitors. The British have called for this, and we have called for this, and the U.N. has called for this. How do you make sure, in a place like Burma, where freedom has been so restricted, that this process of holding a referendum really is open. So of course it will be a subject of discussion today between the two leaders.

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10:03 A.M. EDT