China rejects Vancouver talks on North Korea crisis as illegitimate
Beijing says 20-nation gathering unrepresentative because it excludes two of the main players
China has dismissed a 20-nation meeting in Vancouver on the North Korea nuclear crisis as “illegitimate” because representatives from Beijing were not invited.
The two days of talks sponsored by Canada and the United States involve diplomats from South Korea’s allies during the 1950-1953 Korean war, including Australia, Britain, France and Japan.
Senior US State Department official Steven Goldstein said last week that Russia and China, which supported North Korea in the war, were not invited but would be briefed about the meeting.
The meeting was called to discuss ways to raise pressure on Pyongyang to stop production of nuclear missiles that could hit the US and to ensure implementation of new United Nations sanctions against the North Korean administration.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday that the gathering was not representative because it excluded the two nations with the closest economic and diplomatic ties to Pyongyang.
“China was against the talks from the very beginning,” Lu said.