China to US, South Korea: Do not to Provoke North Korea

By Staff, Agencies

China warned South Korea and the United States on Thursday not to “provoke a confrontation” with Pyongyang.

This comes after the US and South Korean presidents warned that North Korea would face the “end of its regime” if it used its nuclear arsenal.

“All parties should face the crux of the [Korean] peninsula problem and play a constructive role in promoting a peaceful settlement of the issue,” warned Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.

She further called for not “deliberately stirring up tensions, provoking confrontation and issuing threats”.

At a summit in Washington with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden warned that “a nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies or partisans — partners — is unacceptable and will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action.”

Beijing condemned the decision Thursday, saying Washington ignores regional security and stubbornly exploits the peninsula issue to create tension. What the US is doing ... is causing confrontation between the sides, undermining the nuclear nonproliferation regime and the strategic interests of other countries,” Mao said.

The US actions, she added, “aggravate tensions on the peninsula, undermine regional peace and stability, and run counter to the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula.”