War on Korean peninsula inevitable as tensions over nuclear weapons tests escalate, warns retired Chinese general
It is only a matter of time before a military conflict breaks out between North Korea and the South and the United States as military tensions escalate in the region, according to a retired Chinese general.
In an opinion piece published by the Communist Party mouthpiece the Global Times on Thursday, Wang Hongguang, a retired lieutenant general and former deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region, called on China to prepare for a war in the near future.
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“Next possible timing would be after North Korea launches the fifth nuclear weapons test and re-entry missile. If the tests went smoothly, it would show the failure of United Nation sanctions and North Korea’s military capability to attack the US continent,” Wang wrote
“This day should not be too far away and China should fully prepare for these two critical timings,” the article said.
The North Korean nuclear crisis will be on the agenda when President Xi Jinping meets his US counterpart Barack Obama in Washington at a security summit starting on Thursday.
Their meeting on the summit sidelines will be the first chance for the two presidents to discuss in person North Korea’s nuclear and rocket tests this year.
Beijing has backed tough United Nations sanctions against North Korea, but has also protested against what it says is the “overreaction” of the United States and South Korea to the tests.
This includes the two nations’ plan to install a missile defence system on the Korean peninsula, which China says poses a threat to its security. Beijing has urged all sides to return to negotiating table.
Wang said in the Global Times article that Pyongyong did not appear to have been tamed by the UN’s harsh sanctions as it was planning to respond with a fifth round of nuclear weapon tests.
He also cited an earlier Global Times editorial saying that Washington and Seoul’s intention to launch a military strike partly depended on whether Pyongyong could manage to install a small nuclear warhead on its ballistic missiles.
China ‘must prepare for war over North Korea’s rocket launch and nuclear tests’
He said the scale of joint military drills prepared by Washington and Seoul showed the likelihood of a highly concentrated battle on the Korean peninsula.
However, he added that if a military strike against North Korea by the US and South Korea was really to go ahead it would have to be subject to China and Russia’s approval, or acknowledgement at the very least.
