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Rice, Australian, Japanese Foreign Ministers Welcome China on World
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Stage, Warn Iran
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=116A0DA:3919ACA Top diplomats wrap
first meeting of Trilateral Strategic Dialogue in Sydney  



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With a backdrop of Sydney Harbour, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, left to right, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and
Japan's Foreign Minister Foreign Taro Aso, pose for pictures The U.S.
secretary of state and the top diplomats of Australia and Japan have
expressed concern about Iran's nuclear programs and discussed China's
emerging power in the region. The security talks in Sydney were the
first of their kind among the three nations.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined Japanese Foreign Minister
Taro Aso and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in praising
China for its growing cooperation with its Asian neighbors.

The three wrapped up the first meeting of the Trilateral Strategic
Dialogue in Sydney on Saturday. The talks are billed as a way for
three major democracies in the Pacific to discuss a variety of
security and diplomatic concerns.

After the meeting, Downer stressed that while China was a big part of
the agenda, Beijing should not fear it was being singled out.

"It's a very natural thing for Australia, Japan and the United States
to meet together periodically and to talk about global and regional
issues and shouldn't be interpreted as an act of, you know, conspiracy
against China," he said.

His comments come after Rice had questioned China's military build-up
and called for more transparency from Beijing.

The three diplomats had strong words about Iran. Their joint statement
said they had discussed the need "for concerted action at the U.N.
Security Council" to convince Tehran to give up efforts to enrich
uranium.

The United States and many of its allies suspect that Iran has been
trying to develop nuclear weapons, in violation of its international
commitments. The issue is now being discussed in the United Nations
Security Council - which could impose sanctions. However, Russia and
China, two of the five council members with a veto, have not indicated
support for anything but continued diplomacy with Iran.

The meeting covered other proliferation issues: including efforts to
persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs and the
recent U.S. deal to supply India with civilian nuclear technology in
exchange for New Delhi placing some of its reactors under
international safeguards.

Rice and her counterparts agreed to hold regular trilateral
consultations on a variety issues, including counter-terrorism
efforts.

The secretary of state wrapped up her latest foreign tour in Australia
Saturday. She began her trip a week ago, with stops in Chile and
Indonesia.


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