Beijing’s DPRK efforts are ‘widely recognized’

Beijing’s efforts and contributions to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula are widely acknowledged by the international community, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday after US president-elect Donald Trump said China was not helping with the issue.

Analysts said China, which plays a key role in stabilizing the Korean Peninsula, could not be bypassed in resolving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea nuclear issue.

“China’s efforts are widely recognized, and we hope all sides will avoid remarks and actions to escalate the situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news conference.

His comment was in response to a tweet in which Trump criticized China on Monday, saying it was not being helpful in addressing the DPRK nuclear issue. Trump tweeted, “China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won’t help with North Korea. Nice!”

DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un said in a televised New Year’s Day speech that his country was about to test its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the State Department would not agree with Trump’s assessment in the Tweet.

He said that China is absolutely concerned about the direction that Pyongyang is taking and one shouldn’t be surprised by that.

“The DPRK is a southern neighbor and they share a border. They have been concerned about sanctions in the past because their southern provinces do direct business in North Korea. But they did sign up to these very robust sanctions, and they have publicly committed to implementing those sanctions, and that’s going to be our expectation going forward,” he told the daily briefing.

Kirby said the US wants DPRK to return to the Six-Party Talks but added that the condition is that they have to commit to a verifiable denuclearization of the peninsula.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said that he is not going to comment on Trump’s view. “We encourage every country that has an ability to influence North Korea to do that,” he told the daily briefing on Tuesday.

Cook would not say what actions the US might take if DPRK proceeds with the launch, but added “we remain confident in our ballistic missile defense and in our defense of our allies and our defense of the homeland.”

On Monday, John Schindler, a former analyst for the US National Security Agency, said Trump’s tweet was a big mistake,

We hope all sides will avoid remarks and actions to escalate the situation.” Geng Shuang Foreign Ministry spokesman

since China has sided with the United Nations to oppose the DPRK’s nuclear programs.

In May, Trump said he would enter direct talks with Kim as a way to try to deter the country’s development of nuclear weapons.

Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of US Studies of Renmin University of China, said it’s unlikely that Trump would have direct talk with the DPRK after he takes office.

“What if the United States gets nothing after Trump talks with Kim? It would be hard (for Trump) to explain away,” he said, adding that Trump’s remark on direct talks with Kim was merely an irresponsible political show during the election.

Zhang Jingquan, a professor of Northeast Asian studies at Jilin University, said, “The DPRK nuclear issue cannot be resolved quickly,” adding that Trump should not bypass China to address the DPRK nuclear issue.