CHINA has blamed the United States and South Korea for North Korea’s latest missile launch, the rogue country’s challenge to President Donald Trump’s new administration.
The missile, launched as Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida, is believed to have flown about 500 kilometres before splashing down in international waters. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China opposed the launch, which violated UN Security Council resolutions that call for an end to North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
“The root cause of the (North Korean) nuclear missile issue is its differences with the US and South Korea,” Geng told reporters.China has been criticised for not doing enough to pressure Pyongyang to drop its nuclear program.
Beijing counters that its influence is overstated and suggests that Washington’s refusal to talk directly to North Korea is impeding progress toward a solution.
Geng said Beijing “has been striving for a settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue by proactively engaging in mediation and promoting peace talks.”
Although generally dismissive of sanctions, Beijing has signed on to successive rounds under the UN Security Council, and last month banned more items from being exported to North Korea, including plutonium and dual-use technologies that could aid its nuclear program.
“The root cause of the (North Korean) nuclear missile issue is its differences with the US and South Korea,” Geng told reporters.China has been criticised for not doing enough to pressure Pyongyang to drop its nuclear program.
Beijing counters that its influence is overstated and suggests that Washington’s refusal to talk directly to North Korea is impeding progress toward a solution.
Geng said Beijing “has been striving for a settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue by proactively engaging in mediation and promoting peace talks.”
Although generally dismissive of sanctions, Beijing has signed on to successive rounds under the UN Security Council, and last month banned more items from being exported to North Korea, including plutonium and dual-use technologies that could aid its nuclear program.
It comes as the US, Japan and South Korea requested urgent diplomatic talks at the United Nations over North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch, with Seoul condemning what it called “serious military and security threats” and predicting more such tests.
A spokesman for the US Mission to the United Nations said the meeting is expected to take place Monday.
The UN Mission for Ukraine, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency, later confirmed that closed consultations on North Korea will take place late Monday afternoon.
Shi Yuanhua, a Korean studies professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said that from Pyongyang’s perspective, it was a good time to launch a missile because the new US administration hadn’t decided what approach to take with North Korea, and Beijing was at odds with Washington and Seoul over the antimissile system.
“Whether or not to abandon nuclear weapons concerns North Korea’s core national interests and there is no way for China to get it to change its stance with a few words of persuasion, and it can’t solve the problem by applying a ban on exports,” Shi said.
“The key for solving the problem lies in the hands of the US. If the US is willing to sit and talk with North Korea, China will be happy to promote it.”
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