Put Hanoi summit failure aside and plot path to nuclear-free Korean peninsula, China tells Trump and Kim
- China’s top diplomat says achievable goals and breaking the cycle of mistrust are key to solving decades-old problem
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Washington and Pyongyang on Friday to “remain patient” and try to work out a road map for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula despite the failure of the US and North Korean leaders to reach a deal in Hanoi last month.
But even though there was no agreement, the second face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in less than a year still represented an “important step” in the right direction towards denuclearisation and establishment of peace, Wang said.
His remarks, made on the sidelines of the annual National People’s Congress in Beijing, came as US National Security Adviser John Bolton said in Washington that Trump was open for further talks with Pyongyang over the nuclear issue.
Wang said that considering the complexity of and decades of slow progress on ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, the problem “cannot be solved overnight”.
“All parties should have reasonable expectations. We should not set a threshold too high, nor should we unilaterally impose unrealistic demands,” he said.
Wang said Washington and Pyongyang should try to come up with a general road map and then act “in a phased and synchronised” fashion, starting with goals that would be easier to achieve.