Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi urged North Korea, South Korea and the United States to halt their military actions that have generated the new round of tension.
Wang blamed North Korea for pursuing nuclear warheads in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions and for launching four missiles, at a press conference on Monday during the annual joint sessions of the NPC and CPPCC.
South Korea and the United States should also take responsibility for their joint military drills and the recent installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system, Wang said.
“This is just like two accelerating trains hurtling towards each other,” Wang said. “Are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?”
China proposed a “dual-suspension” solution, suggesting North Korea suspend its current nuclear activities while South Korea and the United States should cancel large-scale joint drills.
The “dual-suspension” can solve the current safety dilemma and bring everyone back to the negotiation table, Wang said. “Owning nuclear technology does not guarantee safety, violence cannot be the way forward,” Wang stressed. “
The current situation on the Korean Peninsula has angered China as the US has begun to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea.
“It is the greatest obstacle between China and South Korea,” Wang said. “We opposed the plan right from the beginning.”
China has been claiming that the new system in South Korea would endanger the strategic safety of the country, and has caused a new round of trade rows between the two countries.