China urges North Korea not to take provocative action
Foreign minister's comments on key anniversary come amid rocket test hints
China yesterday implicitly urged North Korea to refrain from taking any new action that would heighten regional tensions, on the 10th anniversary of a key agreement reached in multilateral talks in which Pyongyang promised to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi's warning at an academic seminar in Beijing comes amid hints by North Korea at its readiness to fire a long-range rocket next month, seen by other countries as a pretext for testing ballistic missile technology banned under UN resolutions.
"All parties of the six-party talks are members of the United Nations. We all have a shared responsibility to uphold peace and security on the Korean peninsula and implement UN Security Council resolutions," Wang said.
"We must not take any new action that could lead to tensions," Wang said, without directly naming any country.
The event was organised by a Chinese government-backed institute to mark the anniversary of the deal struck between the countries in the six-party talks - China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States - on September 19, 2005.
In the joint statement issued by the six countries, North Korea committed to "abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes" in exchange for economic assistance and security assurances. The US pledged it had "no intention to attack or invade" North Korea.
The document was seen as the first breakthrough in the six-party talks launched in 2003.
However, the six-party talks have not been held since December 2008 as a result of disagreements over how to verify North Korea's nuclear activities.
Describing the 2005 agreement as "not outdated", Wang said it was time for the six countries to create conditions for an early resumption of the talks.
Wang said the joint statement was the best way for resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula.
"We call on all parties to take the 10th anniversary of the statement as an opportunity to make a political decision to renew their respective responsibilities and commitments," he told about 100 attendees at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
China remains North Korea's most important ally, but its influence on Pyongyang is waning. Beijing's relations with Pyongyang have been less close since Kim Jong-un took power, especially after the North's third nuclear test in February 2013.
China's fresh resolve to denuclearise the peninsula came a week before President Xi Jinping's meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington, where North Korea will be a major topic.
