China warns against chaos in Korean region

No one had the right to bring chaos to the Korean peninsula, China said on Wednesday, a day after it pushed for full implementation of UN sanctions against neighbouring North Korea for its missile and nuclear tests and called for dialogue.

The US has been trying to persuade China, North Korea’s lone major ally, to do more to rein in Pyongyang, which has conducted dozens of missile launches and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of 2016, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The North has proudly publicised its plans to develop a missile capable of striking the US and has ignored calls, even from China, to halt its weapons programmes. It says the programme is necessary to counter US aggression. Its most recent missile test was on Sunday.

“No matter which party it is, no one has the right to bring war and chaos upon the peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after meeting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Anyone who did that would bear “historical responsibility”, Wang said.

US President Donald Trump has said “a major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible and that all options are on the table, but that he wants to resolve the crisis diplomatically.

China has been infuriated by the US deployment of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system in South Korea, saying it is a threat to its own security.

The US and South Korea, which hosts 28,500 US troops, have said the deployment is aimed purely at defence against the North Korean threat.

THE US AND SOUTH KOREA HAVE SAID THE DEPLOYMENT IS AIMED AT DEFENCE AGAINST THE NORTH KOREAN THREAT

China fully implemented its UN Security Council sanction commitments towards North Korea and would continue to play a constructive role in negotiations, Wang said.

Almost a month ago, Washington began discussions with China on strengthening UN sanctions. However, a week ago UN ambassador Nikki Haley said Beijing had gone quiet.

Traditionally, the US and China have negotiated new sanctions before involving the 13 other UN Security Council members.