Insincere gesture

Gestures aimed at reviving stalled military level contacts with China seem blatantly insincere on the part of the US, coming, as it does, at a time of heightened tensions in the region.

On Tuesday, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg indicated that a lack of sustained interaction by defense officials on both sides is damaging ties, especially at a time of stress in the bilateral relationship.

Of course, Steinberg, the No 2 US diplomat, must be reminded here that it was Washington that had fuelled these tensions in the first place. The day Steinberg took this soft-paw approach to ties, military drills staged by Washington and Seoul were on in full swing in the Sea of Japan.