Beijing says sabre rattling will only worsen North Korean nuclear crisis
China’s foreign ministry urges related countries to focus on enforcement of sanctions ahead of this year’s United Nations General Assembly
China called on nations involved in the North Korean nuclear crisis to refrain from worsening the situation with military threats, and to focus on enforcement of the latest UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
The comment by the foreign ministry came ahead of Monday’s UN General Assembly annual gathering, where the US is expected to press China for more greater efforts to rein in North Korea.
“UN Security Council resolution 2375 has just been passed. The pressing issue for all relevant parties is to ensure the full and serious implementation of the resolution, but not creating new complications,” ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Monday, referring to sanctions passed last week that included a ban on textile exports and restrictions on oil imports.
“Some parties from time to time make threatening remarks and actions. These have not [helped with] resolving the nuclear crisis, but are making the situations facing the Korean peninsula more tense.”
The US military staged bombing drills with South Korea Monday, sending a pair of B-1B bombers and four F-35 fighters from Guam and Japan to join four South Korean F-15K fighters.
China and Russia also began naval drills off the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok, the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and to the north of Japan, state-run Xinhua reported Monday.