Bush Opposes Arming Japan, South Korea And Taiwan With Nuclear Weapons

Bush opposes arming Japan, South Korea and Taiwan with nuclear weapons

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/...ar_Weapons.php

The Associated Press
Published: October 30, 2006

WASHINGTON President George W. Bush said Monday he would oppose helping Japan, South Korea and Taiwan develop nuclear weapons to guard against any threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea.

"I think the less nuclear armament in the Far East, the better off the world will be," the president said in an interview.

Bush said the United States should work closely with its allies in Asia on a missile defense system. "Our missile defense systems are getting better and better because of the money that we have been spending over the past five years," he said.

Bush said the United States has successfully convinced its partners in talks with North Korea that Pyongyang should not have nuclear arms. "The problem is, it's a little frustrating for people; diplomacy is a little frustrating for people because things don't happen overnight.

"So, it's a constant effort to keep people bound together and the best way to do it is to remind them of what the dangers will be to the stability in the Far East if there is either a nuclear arms race, or some, you know, uses a nuclear weapon."

Nuclear tensions in Asia were heightened by North Korea's underground nuclear test on Oct. 9.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution sanctioning the North for its test, but South Korea — a major aid provider to the impoverished North — has been reluctant to adopt stern measures against its volatile neighbor.

Bush spoke in an interview for broadcast on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."