China and US agree to keep communication open over Korean peninsula
- In video-link meeting with US representative Jung Pak, Chinese envoy Liu Xiaoming says stable peninsula is in the interests of the region and the world
- But Beijing insists lack of trust between Washington and Pyongyang is the ‘crux’ of the issue and US should take responsibility
China and the United States have agreed to continue communicating over the situation on the Korean peninsula, as series of North Korean missile tests ratcheted up tensions in the region.
In a meeting via video link on Thursday, Liu Xiaoming, China’s special envoy for Korean peninsula affairs, said a stable Korean peninsula was in the interests of the region and the world.
“All parties concerned should face the crux of the question of the peninsula and address their respective concerns in a balanced manner through meaningful dialogue,” Liu told Jung Pak, the US deputy special representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as North Korea is officially known.
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“China will continue to play a constructive role in advancing the process of a political settlement of the peninsula issue,” Liu said, according to a brief statement by the Chinese foreign ministry.
According to the Chinese statement, Pak responded by saying that “the US values China’s role in addressing the peninsula issue and hopes to communicate and cooperate with China in this regard”.
The meeting on Thursday came amid a tentative detente between China and the US following a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November during which the two leaders exchanged views on key regional and global challenges, including the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
It also came as tensions rose between the two Koreas.