Seeking to ease tensions, China proposes trade-off between US and North Korea
Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls for America and South Korea to end drills, and the North to cease nuclear and missile activities
China called for North Korea to suspend its missile and nuclear activities in exchange for the US and South Korea halting their military drills, in order to avoid a clash on the peninsula.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday blamed both Pyongyang’s pursuit of its missile and nuclear programmes and the US-led alliance’s drills for the escalation of regional tensions.
He also warned Seoul that it must give up on deploying the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system.
“[The situation on the peninsula] is like two accelerating trains coming towards each other with neither side willing to give way,” Wang said on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress session in Beijing. “The thing with the utmost urgency for them is to pull the brake at the same time.”
Later on Wednesday, the US shot down the proposal.
The United States rebuffed China’s appeal for talks, saying leader Kim Jong-Un was behaving irrationally and that it was reassessing its approach to dealing with Pyongyang.
After a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea’s actions called for a different response.
