Envoy: Crucial to restart peace talks

Negotiations are needed to solve Korean nuclear issue, says diplomat

MUNICH: China hopes that peace talks can be reopened to solve the most urgent Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, a senior Chinese diplomat said during the Munich Security Conference.

“There should be negotiated settlements to address the security concerns of all parties,” Fu Ying (pic), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s legisla- ture, said during a panel on nuclear security.

A serious lack of trust between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (made it impossible for any bilateral or multilateral agreement to be implemented and dragged the peninsula into a vicious circle of escalating tensions, Fu said on Saturday.

China supports the denuclearisa- tion of the Korean Peninsula and agrees that sanctions are necessary, she said.

China has fully complied with the UN Security Council resolutions concerning sanctions on the DPRK, she added.

“But in the meantime, China also hopes that peace talks can be initiated, can be reopened,” Fu said.

Sanctions only work when the door to negotiation is open, she added. Fu said she noticed that a good opportunity has emerged recently when the Republic of Korea and the DPRK use the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as a platform to reach out to each other.

She hoped that the United States could seize the opportunity and restart the talks in order to bring peace back to the region.