China’s rules for war in Korea
CHINA: China should remain neutral if North Korea launches an attack that threatens the United States, a Chinese state-run newspaper said yesterday, sounding a warning for Pyongyang over its plans to fire missiles near the US Pacific territory of Guam.
The comments from the influential Global Times came after US President Donald Trump stepped up his rhetoric against North Korea again, saying his earlier threat to unleash ‘‘fire and fury’’ on Pyongyang if it launched an attack may not have been tough enough.
China, North Korea’s most important ally and trading partner, has reiterated calls for calm during the current crisis. Beijing has expressed frustration with both Pyongyang’s repeated nuclear and missile tests and with behaviour from South Korea and the US, such as military drills, that it sees as escalating tensions.
‘‘China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral,’’ the Global Times, which is widely read but does not represent government policy, said in an editorial.
‘‘If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so,’’ it said.
North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said its army would complete plans in mid-august to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near Guam.
Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was not going to get away with his ‘‘horrific’’ comments and disrespecting America.
‘‘Let’s see what he does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody’s seen before, what will happen in North Korea,’’ Trump told reporters in New Jersey, without offering specifics.
Shortly after he spoke, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said the US still preferred a diplomatic approach to the North Korean threat, and a war would be ‘‘catastrophic’’.
Tension in the region has risen since the reclusive North, which staged two nuclear bomb tests last year, launched two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July in defiance of world powers.
US and Japanese troops yesterday began an 18-day live-fire exercise on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which was to include rocket artillery drills and involve 3500 troops.
South Korean and US troops are also gearing up for an annual joint drill from August 21, called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, in which up to 30,000 US troops will take part.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to deliver a speech next week to mark Liberation Day, when the Korean peninsula secured freedom from Japanese rule. Moon is likely to highlight his policy on North Korea on the holiday, the only one the two Koreas share.
Former defence officials and experts say any new military conflict with North Korea would likely escalate quickly to the use of nuclear weapons, bringing catastrophic casualties not seen since World War II and an untold economic impact worldwide.
Peter Toves, 47, a Guam native who rents out kayaks and jetskis on a private beach, said he felt safe but threats so specific by Kim were unsettling.
‘‘We’re just gonna sit down and barbecue here and have fun. There’s nothing we can do, just wait,’’ he said. - Reuters